Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LYG shares. UBS Group raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,386,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 149,958,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $680,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129,641 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,079,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,062,000 after purchasing an additional 211,920 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,416,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,106,000 after buying an additional 660,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 19.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,112,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,830,000 after buying an additional 1,306,099 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $5.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $83.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.42. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of $3.98 and a 1 year high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 25.11%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.53 EPS for the current year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.