Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Cut to Hold at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LYG. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised 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 five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $5.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.48. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $2.56 and a 52-week high of $5.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.90.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.07). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $6.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 149,958,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $680,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129,641 shares in the last quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $548,574,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,004,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,397,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,279,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,828,000 after acquiring an additional 541,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

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.