Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $4.74 and last traded at $4.7350, with a volume of 2986895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $4.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $70.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.07). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $6.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 123,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 5,576 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 27.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 65,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 12,585 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 114,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.