Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.10 Per Share

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) declared a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of 0.1035 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05.

Lloyds Banking Group has increased its dividend by an average of 28.8% annually over the last three years. Lloyds Banking Group has a dividend payout ratio of 24.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lloyds Banking Group to earn $0.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.11 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.8%.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.69. The stock had a trading volume of 72,891,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,424,299. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1-year low of $2.30 and a 1-year high of $3.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.95.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

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.