Brokerages Set Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Target Price at $2.75

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.75.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

LYG opened at $3.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $2.42 and a 52 week high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $19,309,000 after acquiring an additional 4,914,680 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,540,000 after buying an additional 2,713,559 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,154,000 after buying an additional 2,472,263 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.