Mariner LLC Increases Holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 742,092 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 121,259 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. TT Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,531,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,165,000 after purchasing an additional 13,069 shares during the last quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 912,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 183,484 shares during the period. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LYG. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LYG traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.97. The company had a trading volume of 5,060,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,043,539. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 52-week low of $2.55 and a 52-week high of $4.02. The firm has a market cap of $59.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $3.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.16.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. On average, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.1035 dividend. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.