Ethic Inc. Has $5.56 Million Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Ethic Inc. lowered its stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,314,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 76,102 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $5,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,154,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,269,000 after buying an additional 1,397,163 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 15.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,199,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,359 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,083,000 after purchasing an additional 863,347 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 7,365.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 817,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 806,543 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth $2,649,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $4.51 on Thursday. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a twelve month low of $2.56 and a twelve month high of $4.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.22. The company has a market capitalization of $66.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.0655 dividend. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 32.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LYG. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 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.