Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG Stake Cut by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,806,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 205,597 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $28,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LYG. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,596,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,097,000 after buying an additional 64,952 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 194.1% in the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 87,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 57,750 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,254,000. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,689,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.9% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,816,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,969,000 after purchasing an additional 612,523 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $5.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a one year low of $2.56 and a one year high of $5.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.42. The stock has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.07). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 18.04%.The company had revenue of $6.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LYG. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.