Forum Financial Management LP Buys 47,752 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 181,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,752 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crux Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LYG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. HSBC raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $3.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.12. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.50 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91. The company has a market capitalization of $57.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.1035 dividend. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

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.