Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 61.71 ($0.82) and traded as high as GBX 73.60 ($0.98). Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 72.90 ($0.97), with a volume of 81,644,117 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.83) to GBX 71 ($0.95) and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.81) to GBX 71 ($0.95) and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of GBX 64.25 ($0.86).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 70.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 61.82. The stock has a market cap of £44.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group's previous dividend of $1.06. Lloyds Banking Group's payout ratio is 37.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.93), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,575.08). 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.