Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 12,612,163 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 19,782,174 shares.The stock last traded at $5.2250 and had previously closed at $5.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on LYG. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market cap of $80.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.38.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 25.11% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management inc. now owns 104,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 7.7% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 20.8% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions.

In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products.