Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG Stock Position Reduced by Mondrian Investment Partners LTD

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD reduced its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,314,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,630,970 shares during the period. Lloyds Banking Group makes up about 5.8% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $266,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 131.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter valued at $71,000. 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 purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LYG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $5.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $76.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.70. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1-year low of $4.51 and a 1-year high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.01). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.86 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.0840 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This is a negative change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.1340. This represents a yield of 273.0%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.21%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based financial services group whose American depositary shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LYG. The group provides banking, lending, insurance, pensions and investment services to individuals, businesses and institutional customers.

Its principal brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Products and services include current and savings accounts, residential mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, commercial banking, asset finance, life insurance, pensions and investment solutions.

Lloyds Banking Group was formed in 2009 through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB.