one8zero8 LLC Makes New $136,000 Investment in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

one8zero8 LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.01.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

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.