Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 55.33 ($0.70).

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 59 ($0.74) target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “market perform” rating and set a GBX 50 ($0.63) price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.69) to GBX 58 ($0.73) and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Peel Hunt began coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a GBX 55 ($0.69) price objective on the stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.2 %

LON:LLOY opened at GBX 52.18 ($0.66) on Friday. The company has a market cap of £33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 652.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of GBX 39.42 ($0.50) and a twelve month high of GBX 54.28 ($0.68). The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 50.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 46.08.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of GBX 1.84 ($0.02) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.92. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 3,750.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lloyds Banking Group

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider Robin Budenberg bought 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 45 ($0.57) per share, for a total transaction of £450,000 ($565,255.62). In related news, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 52 ($0.65) per share, for a total transaction of £66,621.36 ($83,684.66). Also, insider Robin Budenberg acquired 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 45 ($0.57) per share, with a total value of £450,000 ($565,255.62). 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.