Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 74.50 ($0.99) and last traded at GBX 74.34 ($0.99), with a volume of 755644000 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 73.40 ($0.98).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLOY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.83) to GBX 71 ($0.94) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.81) to GBX 71 ($0.94) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 64.25 ($0.86).

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is GBX 70.48 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 62.61. The firm has a market cap of £44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported GBX 1.70 ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share. This represents a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lloyds Banking Group

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.93), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,562.42). Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.