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

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group's stock rating was downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more cautious outlook from analysts.
• The company's recent earnings report showed strong performance with $0.14 earnings per share, surpassing expectations of $0.10.
• A variety of institutional investors, including Townsquare Capital LLC and Millennium Management LLC, have recently increased their holdings in Lloyds Banking Group, suggesting confidence in the company's future performance.

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

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:LYG traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,739,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,227,109. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $4.62. The firm has a market cap of $63.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.05.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. Research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $632,522,000 after buying an additional 16,705,846 shares in the last quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter worth approximately $548,574,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,620,000 after purchasing an additional 453,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,444,000 after buying an additional 4,021,039 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.