Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 191.04 and last traded at GBX 109.95, with a volume of 688445125 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 107.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 171 to GBX 121 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 117 price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 114 to GBX 123 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 125 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 120 price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 113.80.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 100.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 99.81. The stock has a market cap of £64.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.92.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 478.50 billion for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.75% and a net margin of 25.91%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.