Brokerages Set Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Price Target at GBX 62.40

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 62.40 ($0.82).

LLOY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Shore Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.80) to GBX 71 ($0.93) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.81) to GBX 71 ($0.93) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.92), for a total value of £7,936.60 ($10,384.14). Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of LON:LLOY opened at GBX 66.76 ($0.87) on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of £40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of GBX 68.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 60.74. Lloyds Banking Group has a fifty-two week low of GBX 49.42 ($0.65) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 74.46 ($0.97).

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. This represents a dividend yield of 3.01%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.