Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 73.32 ($0.93) and last traded at GBX 72.52 ($0.92), with a volume of 250947625 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 72.98 ($0.93).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Shore Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.70) to GBX 62 ($0.79) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 58 ($0.74).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 60.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 58.21. The stock has a market capitalization of £43.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. Research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider William Chalmers acquired 128,804 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 54 ($0.69) per share, with a total value of £69,554.16 ($88,390.09). Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.