Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Sells 793,424 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Key Points

• Advisors Management Group Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group, selling 793,424 shares and retaining only 20,148 shares, resulting in a 97.5% decrease in ownership.
• Lloyds Banking Group reported earnings of $0.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and also announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.0655 per share.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Lloyds Banking Group, with Goldman Sachs Group acquiring an additional 1,397,163 shares and increasing its total ownership by 6.1%.

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 793,424 shares during the quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,154,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,163 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,083,000 after acquiring an additional 863,347 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 15.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,199,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,321,000 after buying an additional 1,100,359 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,011,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,785,000 after buying an additional 399,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,831,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,458,000 after buying an additional 18,767 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $4.49 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 12-month low of $2.56 and a 12-month high of $4.63. The stock has a market cap of $66.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4.43 and a 200-day moving average of $4.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 forecast 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 announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.0655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LYG. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

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.

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