Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group shares reached a new 52-week high after Citigroup upgraded its price target from GBX 75 to GBX 77, while maintaining a neutral rating.
• Insider purchases were significant, with Charlie Nunn acquiring 238,593 shares and William Chalmers buying 152,181 shares at GBX 76 each, indicating confidence in the stock.
• The bank reported an earnings per share (EPS) of GBX 3.80 and has a market capitalization of £48.98 billion, with analysts projecting an average EPS of 7.32 for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock to a neutral rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a GBX 85 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of GBX 79. Lloyds Banking Group traded as high as GBX 80.92 ($1.08) and last traded at GBX 80.78 ($1.08), with a volume of 2147000000 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 75.69 ($1.01).

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LLOY. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 75 ($1.00) to GBX 77 ($1.03) and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to an "outperform" rating and set a GBX 95 ($1.27) target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Shore Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 74 ($0.99) price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 77.20 ($1.03).

Insider Buying and Selling at Lloyds Banking Group

In related news, insider William Chalmers bought 152,181 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 76 ($1.02) per share, for a total transaction of £115,657.56 ($154,498.48). Also, insider Chris Vogelzang bought 30,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 80 ($1.07) per share, for a total transaction of £24,400 ($32,594.18). Insiders purchased 421,274 shares of company stock valued at $32,138,824 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of £48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50 day moving average is GBX 76.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 71.89.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported GBX 3.80 ($0.05) EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community. The Group's main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.