Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYGFree Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 3.9 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.83 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.97. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of $2.38 and a twelve month high of $3.90. The company has a market cap of $58.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.31.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYGGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,778,000 after buying an additional 2,456,914 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,035,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 757,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after buying an additional 202,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after buying an additional 180,178 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,703,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after buying an additional 627,592 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lloyds Banking Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG)

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