Ritholtz Wealth Management Trims Stock Holdings in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 932,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 254,264 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $3,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LYG stock opened at $4.54 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.19. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 52 week low of $2.56 and a 52 week high of $4.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.0655 dividend. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

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.