Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,830,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 183,019 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.09% of Lloyds Banking Group worth $64,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 151,258,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,718 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,802,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,456,000 after purchasing an additional 673,473 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,279,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,828,000 after buying an additional 541,501 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,815,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,023,000 after buying an additional 1,309,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,971,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,947,000 after acquiring an additional 642,848 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Lloyds Banking Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Lloyds Banking Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lloyds reported first-half statutory pretax profit of £4.3 billion, up 23% from £3.5 billion a year earlier, exceeding expectations. Management also launched a new strategy focused on improving returns through 2030. Lloyds reports first-half profit up 23%, outlines new strategy
• Positive Sentiment: The bank announced a £1 billion share buyback and raised its dividend by 30% to 1.58 pence per share. The U.S.-listed dividend announcement lists a payment of $0.084 per share for investors of record on August 10, with payment scheduled for September 25. Lloyds hikes dividend and launches share buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts viewed Lloyds’ new targets as potentially conservative. Citi maintained a “buy” rating, citing upside from the bank’s planned consumer ecosystem spanning housing, cars, wealth and insurance. Lloyds targets look conservative
• Positive Sentiment: Lloyds plans to use approximately 800 artificial-intelligence models to reduce costs and support its targets of more than 18% return on tangible equity in 2028 and about 20% in 2030. Lloyds mobilizes AI models to reduce costs
• Neutral Sentiment: The results showed a 25.11% net margin and 10.63% return on equity, while management outlined a multi-year plan centered on growth, efficiency and stronger capital returns. Execution against these targets will be important for future valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly EPS was $0.13, below the $0.14 consensus estimate, while revenue of $6.57 billion missed expectations of $6.86 billion. The earnings shortfall may be prompting profit-taking after a strong recent rally. Lloyds quarterly earnings results

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $6.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1-year low of $4.05 and a 1-year high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.86 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.084 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a yield of 272.0%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions.

In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products.