Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on LYG. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 2.4%

LYG stock opened at $3.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $59.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.97. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of $2.56 and a 12 month high of $4.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.21.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth about $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,039 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,440,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.