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

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group PLC has been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by six brokerages, with one hold rating, four buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• Several large investors have recently made significant moves, including L1 Capital purchasing approximately $548 million worth of shares during the second quarter.
• The company reported earnings of $0.14 EPS in its last quarterly results, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.10, with revenue reported at $6.13 billion.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research 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 report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYG. L1 Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter worth $548,574,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 148,828,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $632,522,000 after acquiring an additional 16,705,846 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,261,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,610,000 after buying an additional 1,448,691 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,154,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,269,000 after buying an additional 1,397,163 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company's stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,232,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,912,869. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $2.56 and a 52 week high of $4.63. The business's 50-day moving average price is $4.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The company had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.0655 per share. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group's payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

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.