Shore Capital Group Reiterates "Sell" Rating for Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY)

Key Points

• Shore Capital reiterated a Sell on Lloyds, but the analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy (6 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell) with an average target of GBX 113.44.
• Lloyds beat Q1 expectations—GBX 2.40 EPS and GBX 478.5bn revenue (≈33% jump)—reaffirmed 2026 guidance, and continued sizable share buybacks that support EPS.
• However, management warned the UK economic outlook is weaker and a systems glitch potentially affecting ~500,000 customers creates regulatory and reputational risk that could curb upside.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating restated by investment analysts at Shore Capital Group in a report released on Thursday,Digital Look reports.

LLOY has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a GBX 120 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Lloyds Banking Group to GBX 125 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 120 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 171 to GBX 121 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 125 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 113.44.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 1.8%

LLOY traded up GBX 1.70 on Thursday, hitting GBX 98.75. The company had a trading volume of 907,842,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,767,094. The firm has a market cap of £57.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.94. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of GBX 69.70 and a 1 year high of GBX 114.60. The company's fifty day moving average price is GBX 98.23 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 96.92.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 478.50 billion for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 9.93%. On average, analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Lloyds Banking Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lloyds Banking Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat and guidance reiterated — Lloyds reported GBX 2.40 EPS for the quarter, revenue of GBX 478.5bn, a 33% jump in quarterly earnings and reaffirmed 2026 guidance, supporting earnings visibility. Lloyds Profit Beats as UK Lender Reiterates Guidance for 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Broker upgrades and higher targets — Citigroup raised its price target to GBX 123 with a Buy rating, and Jefferies reaffirmed a Buy with a GBX 125 target; such upgrades can attract inflows and validate upside. Broker Views (Digital Look / LSE)
• Positive Sentiment: Share buybacks / cancellations continue — Lloyds repurchased and cancelled sizable tranches (31.15m cancelled on 29 Apr; 12.14m cancelled on 28 Apr), shrinking share count and supporting EPS. Lloyds Cancels 31 Million Shares (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail bond issuance — Lloyds launched a £1.4bn retail bond offer, a funding/market move that is neutral for equity value but signals access to retail funding and possible balance‑sheet optimization. Lloyds Bank in landmark £1.4bn retail bonds offer
• Negative Sentiment: Macroeconomic / war‑related warning — Management flagged that the war is hurting the UK economic outlook; investors may discount forward growth and credit risk, which tempers upside from the beat. Lloyds earnings jump by a third but UK economic outlook worsens
• Negative Sentiment: Customer service glitch affecting ~500k customers — a systems incident that exposed transactions raises regulatory, remediation and reputational risk. That could lead to costs or fines. More than 500,000 Lloyds and Halifax customers may have been affected by glitch
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/media scrutiny — coverage alleging controversial profit sources and calls for industry tax action add political and PR risk that could influence investor sentiment. Mirror: First BP, now staggering amount Lloyds and other big banks profit from Iran war

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community. The Group's main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.

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