Inspire Investing LLC Makes New $2.65 Million Investment in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 623,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10,836.3% in the second quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 9,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LYG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Kepler Capital Markets raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

LYG stock opened at $4.44 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $4.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $66.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.02. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 52-week low of $2.56 and a 52-week high of $4.69.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

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

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.