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

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

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LYG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, August 4th.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

LYG opened at $4.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.01. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $2.56 and a 52-week high of $4.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.0655 dividend. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 32.50%.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 206,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 57,562 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 589,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 172,457 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,620,000 after purchasing an additional 453,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 63,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 7,575 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.