Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company.

Several research firms have recently commented on LYG. Wall Street Zen raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,507,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,742,365. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $3.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.27. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of $2.56 and a 12 month high of $4.29. The company has a market capitalization of $64.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.1035 dividend. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.