Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Lloyds Banking Group, with eight buy ratings and three holds among 11 covering brokerages, despite recent downgrades from some firms.
• Lloyds shares opened at $5.70, down 0.4%, and remain below their 52-week high of $6.34. The company’s latest quarterly earnings missed expectations, reporting $0.13 EPS versus the $0.14 consensus and revenue of $6.57 billion versus $6.86 billion expected.
• The bank recently cut its dividend to $0.084 per share from $0.134, while institutional investors collectively own 2.15% of the stock.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LYG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, July 16th.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 12.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,731,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,095,000 after buying an additional 185,523 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 53,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,424 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,564,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,250,000 after acquiring an additional 351,626 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 394,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 156,739 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $5.70 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of $4.42 and a 1 year high of $6.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.65. The firm has a market cap of $82.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.87.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 24.97%.The business had revenue of $6.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0840 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 273.0%. This is a decrease from Lloyds Banking Group's previous dividend of $0.1340. Lloyds Banking Group's payout ratio is 39.53%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a United Kingdom-based financial services company headquartered in London. Its principal businesses include retail banking, commercial banking, insurance, pensions and long-term savings. The group serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, commercial clients and institutional customers primarily across the United Kingdom.

The group operates through well-known brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Its products and services include current and savings accounts, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, business banking, corporate lending, investment products, insurance and retirement planning.

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