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

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group PLC has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with four hold ratings, five buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• Recent changes in institutional positions included GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by 374.6% in the first quarter, indicating increased confidence from hedge funds.
• The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.04, and had a revenue of $6.13 billion, significantly higher than the expected $4.86 billion.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LYG shares. Weiss Ratings cut Lloyds Banking Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered Lloyds Banking Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. 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, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 374.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 219,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 173,496 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 1st quarter valued at $170,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,390,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,134,000 after buying an additional 18,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 4,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company's stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE LYG opened at $4.53 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group has a one year low of $2.56 and a one year high of $4.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.19. The firm has a market cap of $67.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

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

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