Ethic Inc. Lowers Stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,431,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 165,583 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $3,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LYG. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 48,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,981 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 22,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 5,597 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 40,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 19,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 288,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 39,685 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LYG. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE LYG opened at $3.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.20. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $2.56 and a twelve month high of $4.00.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Equities analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.