Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company.

Several research analysts have commented on LYG shares. UBS Group raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 534.4% in the second quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 140,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 118,457 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 55.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 11,349 shares during the last quarter. Permanens Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $170,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,005,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after acquiring an additional 222,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth about $166,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $6.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.60. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of $4.20 and a 12 month high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 24.97%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.084 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 273.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 37.21%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company 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.