Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, while other analysts maintain various ratings from "overweight" to "neutral."
• The company reported $0.14 EPS in its last quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.10, and had a revenue of $6.13 billion, also surpassing estimates.
• Lloyds Banking Group stock is currently trading at $4.49, with a market cap of $66.47 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Lloyds Banking Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. 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. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $4.49 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $4.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $66.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02. Lloyds Banking Group has a fifty-two week low of $2.56 and a fifty-two week high of $4.69.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.86 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. L1 Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $548,574,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 12.6% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 148,828,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $632,522,000 after acquiring an additional 16,705,846 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 178.3% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,261,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,691 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth approximately $5,254,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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