JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 65.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,311,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,348,626 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $6,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LYG. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 16,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 20,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 4,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 60,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.77 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.12. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $2.49 and a 12-month high of $3.91. The stock has a market cap of $57.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LYG shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers.