96,500 Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG Shares Acquired by Royal Palms Capital LLC

Royal Palms Capital LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 471,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,500 shares during the period. Lloyds Banking Group makes up about 2.4% of Royal Palms Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Royal Palms Capital LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LYG. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter worth $128,228,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,564,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,250,000 after acquiring an additional 351,626 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,005,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,669,000 after acquiring an additional 222,310 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,849,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,365,000 after acquiring an additional 433,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 2,413.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,113,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,604 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $5.33 on Monday. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 52 week low of $4.51 and a 52 week high of $6.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $76.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted 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). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $6.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.86 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.0840 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 273.0%. This is a decrease from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.1340. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based financial services group whose American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LYG. The group provides banking, lending, insurance, pensions and investment services to individuals, businesses and institutional customers.

Its principal brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Products and services include current and savings accounts, residential mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, commercial banking, asset finance, life insurance, pensions and investment solutions.

Lloyds Banking Group was formed in 2009 through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB.