Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Upgraded to Outperform at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• The Royal Bank Of Canada has upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating, indicating increased confidence in the company's future performance.
• Several other analysts have also issued positive upgrades, with JPMorgan Chase moving Lloyds from "underweight" to "neutral," and Wall Street Zen and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgrading it to "buy" and "moderate buy," respectively.
• Lloyds Banking Group reported significant earnings, with an EPS of $0.14 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.10 and highlighting strong financial health and revenue growth.

Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LYG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Lloyds Banking Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.40. The company had a trading volume of 6,490,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,927,055. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.83. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1-year low of $2.56 and a 1-year high of $4.44. The company has a market capitalization of $66.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,397,163 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,620,000 after purchasing an additional 453,326 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,083,000 after buying an additional 863,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,199,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,321,000 after buying an additional 1,100,359 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.