Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LYG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of LYG opened at $4.49 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $4.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $66.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.49 and a 200-day moving average of $4.20.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 17.51%.The company had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.0655 dividend. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. L1 Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $548,574,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 12.6% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 148,828,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $632,522,000 after buying an additional 16,705,846 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 178.3% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,261,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,610,000 after buying an additional 1,448,691 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,154,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,269,000 after buying an additional 1,397,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.