Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group PLC has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages, with three holding, two buying, and one strongly buying the stock.
• In the latest earnings report, the company exceeded analysts' expectations with $0.14 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $0.10 and reported revenue of $6.13 billion.
• The firm recently announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.0655, with a dividend yield of 370.0%, despite a 55.00% payout ratio.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LYG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,309,000 after acquiring an additional 4,914,680 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,440,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 147.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,028,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,622,000 after buying an additional 1,207,960 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

LYG stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.34. The stock had a trading volume of 8,245,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,215,719. The stock has a market cap of $65.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.44. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $2.56 and a 52-week high of $4.44.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.0655 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.00%.

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.