Lloyds Banking Group PLC Plans Semi-annual Dividend of $0.07 (NYSE:LYG)

Key Points

• Lloyds Banking Group PLC announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.07, with a dividend yield of 3.7%, payable on September 19th to stockholders of record on August 4th.
• The bank reported $0.14 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $6.13 billion compared to analyst expectations of $4.86 billion.
• Equities analysts have shifted their ratings for the stock, with several upgrading it from "hold" to "buy," resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) declared a semi-annual dividend on Monday, July 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of 0.0655 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, September 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th.

Lloyds Banking Group has a dividend payout ratio of 43.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lloyds Banking Group to earn $0.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.22 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.7%.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.22. 8,818,679 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,667,408. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $2.56 and a 52 week high of $4.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.75. The company has a market cap of $63.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The firm had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 162.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 7,253 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,126,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,305,000 after purchasing an additional 108,100 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 18.4% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 812,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 126,247 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 124.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 263,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 145,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the first quarter worth approximately $639,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LYG shares. HSBC upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

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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