Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 35,952 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,952 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,967,000 after purchasing an additional 25,351,270 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter worth about $36,252,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,415,000 after buying an additional 2,841,956 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 195.8% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,833,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,339,000 after buying an additional 1,875,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 114.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,487,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Kepler Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 1.34. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $1.88 and a 1-year high of $3.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3.01 and its 200 day moving average is $2.84.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.0546 per share. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

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.