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

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.

LYG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $4.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.01. Lloyds Banking Group has a one year low of $2.56 and a one year high of $4.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.4% during the first quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 2,617 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 12,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 22.1% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 15,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 8.7% during the first quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 36,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.