Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4.00 and last traded at $3.97, with a volume of 23720086 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LYG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $3.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.18. The firm has a market cap of $56.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 325.7% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 184,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 141,409 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at about $64,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $262,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 115,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 56,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,778,000 after buying an additional 2,456,914 shares during the period. 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.