Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Raised to “Buy” at Bank of America

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $5.87 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.60. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of $4.20 and a twelve month high of $6.34. The company has a market capitalization of $85.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.86 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 131.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 1,216.6% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 8,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 7,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 149.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 5,707 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.