Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Reaches New 1-Year High at $53.50

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 53.50 ($0.67) and last traded at GBX 53.34 ($0.67), with a volume of 19839766 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 52.38 ($0.66).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LLOY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a GBX 41 ($0.51) target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 59 ($0.74) target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.69) to GBX 58 ($0.73) and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “market perform” rating and set a GBX 50 ($0.63) target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 57.17 ($0.72).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £33.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 748.29, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 46.23 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 44.83.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a GBX 1.84 ($0.02) dividend. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.92. This represents a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4,285.71%.

Insider Transactions at Lloyds Banking Group

In other news, insider William Chalmers acquired 128,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 52 ($0.65) per share, for a total transaction of £66,621.36 ($83,632.14). In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider Robin Budenberg bought 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 45 ($0.56) per share, for a total transaction of £450,000 ($564,900.83). Also, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,118 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 52 ($0.65) per share, for a total transaction of £66,621.36 ($83,632.14). 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.