Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG)

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 8,139 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 735% compared to the typical daily volume of 975 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,416,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,106,000 after acquiring an additional 660,256 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the first quarter worth approximately $128,228,000. Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,906,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 70.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 482,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 199,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,970,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,912,000 after acquiring an additional 172,594 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on LYG shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $6.17. 1,993,345 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,068,344. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $4.20 and a 52-week high of $6.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.82 and a 200-day moving average of $5.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.87.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 10.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.084 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a yield of 272.0%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 37.21%.

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.