Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares passed above its 200-day moving average (200‑day = GBX 83.46), trading as high as GBX 96.34 on heavy volume (70.6M), a bullish technical signal.
• Analysts are split (three Buy, three Hold) with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 98.50, and several brokers recently raised their targets.
• Key fundamentals include a market cap of £56.65bn, a P/E of 16.90 and recent quarterly EPS of GBX 6.30, indicating modest valuation relative to earnings.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 83.46 and traded as high as GBX 96.34. Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 96.34, with a volume of 70,623,875 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LLOY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a GBX 93 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 102 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 84 to GBX 97 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 105 price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 98.50.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £56.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's fifty day moving average price is GBX 90.56 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 83.46.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current 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.

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