Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 29,263 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,263 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 19.5% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 126,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 20,583 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 158.7% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 454,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 278,868 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 211,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 23,659 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 60.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 56,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 21,089 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Kepler Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.35. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $1.88 and a 12-month high of $3.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 12.40%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.0546 per share. This represents a yield of 4.4%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.95%.

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.