Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Stock Has Average Target Price of $6.00 According to Brokerages

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LYG shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,005,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,669,000 after purchasing an additional 222,310 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 642,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,748,000 after purchasing an additional 258,941 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,564,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,250,000 after buying an additional 351,626 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $128,228,000. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter valued at about $8,072,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:LYG opened at $5.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.63. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $4.51 and a 52 week high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0840 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 273.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This is a negative change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.1340.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based financial services group whose American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LYG. The group provides banking, lending, insurance, pensions and investment services to individuals, businesses and institutional customers.

Its principal brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Products and services include current and savings accounts, residential mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, commercial banking, asset finance, life insurance, pensions and investment solutions.

Lloyds Banking Group was formed in 2009 through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB.