Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 56 ($0.70).

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a GBX 60 ($0.76) price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.68) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($87,522.54). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LON:LLOY traded up GBX 3.06 ($0.04) on Thursday, hitting GBX 65.90 ($0.83). The company’s stock had a trading volume of 646,157,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,169,563. The company has a market capitalization of £39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is GBX 58.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 57.47. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of GBX 42.37 ($0.53) and a 12 month high of GBX 67.60 ($0.85).

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Equities analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.