Eagle Global Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Key Points

• Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC by 40% in Q2, now holding 700,000 shares valued at approximately $2.975 million.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Lloyds from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating, contributing to the current average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with several other brokerages also raising their ratings.
• Lloyds Banking Group recently reported $0.14 EPS, exceeding estimates, and announced a dividend yield of 370% with a payout ratio of **30%**.

Eagle Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 40.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 700,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% in 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. Millennium Management LLC increased 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 worth $31,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,359 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,083,000 after purchasing an additional 863,347 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 7,365.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 817,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 806,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,011,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,785,000 after buying an additional 399,866 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LYG. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE LYG opened at $4.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 simple moving average of $4.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1-year low of $2.56 and a 1-year high of $4.63.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.0655 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.00%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LYG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.