Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to Moderate Buy Rating

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

LYG has been the topic of several other reports. HSBC raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $4.17. 8,487,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,452,059. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $2.56 and a 52-week high of $4.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.15 and a 200-day moving average of $3.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.39%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LYG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 801,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 9,945 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,126,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 70,838 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,474,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 1,830.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 18,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 17,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 389.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 133,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 106,128 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.