Vident Advisory LLC Buys 119,876 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC by 38% during the first quarter, owning 435,745 shares valued at $1,665,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Jackson Thornton Wealth Management and SBI Securities, also increased their stakes in Lloyds Banking Group, showcasing growing institutional interest in the company.
• Lloyds Banking Group recently reported earnings that exceeded expectations, with a quarterly EPS of $0.14 against a consensus estimate of $0.10, and declared a dividend with a staggering yield of 370.0%.

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 38.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 435,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 119,876 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $1,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 589,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 172,457 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 63,152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 7,575 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,444,000 after buying an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 35,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,322,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,596,000 after purchasing an additional 280,214 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LYG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.35. The stock had a trading volume of 11,651,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,901,467. The business's 50 day moving average price is $4.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.03. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $4.62. The company has a market cap of $65.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. Research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.0655 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a yield of 370.0%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.50%.

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.