Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from GBX 98 to GBX 106. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Lloyds Banking Group traded as high as GBX 111.45 and last traded at GBX 111.45, with a volume of 274020469 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 106.93.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 102 to GBX 117 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 120 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 93 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 106.11.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £65.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 98.90 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 89.14.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported GBX 7 EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. Research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.