Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG Shares Acquired by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,081 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,596,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,097,000 after purchasing an additional 64,952 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 125,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 68,064 shares in the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 194.1% during the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 87,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 57,750 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,011,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,785,000 after acquiring an additional 399,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Kepler Capital Markets raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $4.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1-year low of $2.56 and a 1-year high of $4.69. The company has a market cap of $66.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.02.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 17.51%.The company had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.0655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.00%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company 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.