Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 460,431 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 1,394.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 493,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 460,431 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at about $285,004,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at about $63,928,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 53.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,614,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,031,000 after buying an additional 2,317,927 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 178.3% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,261,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,610,000 after buying an additional 1,448,691 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 17.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,815,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,023,000 after buying an additional 1,309,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $5.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.88. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a twelve month low of $3.98 and a twelve month high of $6.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.33.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 25.11% and a return on equity of 10.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions.

In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products.