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

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

LYG has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van Diest Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,000. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 498,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,643,000 after buying an additional 128,289 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 283,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 38,289 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 306,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 129,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 1,655.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 22,369 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of LYG opened at $5.65 on Tuesday. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $3.27 and a 52-week high of $6.34. The company has a market capitalization of $83.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.94.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.52 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.134 per share. This represents a yield of 447.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions.

In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products.