Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2.75.

A number of analysts have issued reports on LYG shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Kepler Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,967,000 after purchasing an additional 25,351,270 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,696,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,975,000 after acquiring an additional 17,814,615 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,166,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,775 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 21,147,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,966,000 after acquiring an additional 10,406,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,625,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,528,000 after acquiring an additional 439,009 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of LYG stock opened at $3.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 1.35. Lloyds Banking Group has a one year low of $1.88 and a one year high of $3.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 10.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.0546 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.