Decatur Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 43,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $118,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,967,000 after acquiring an additional 25,351,270 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,696,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,975,000 after purchasing an additional 17,814,615 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,166,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,775 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 21,147,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,966,000 after purchasing an additional 10,406,673 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,625,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,528,000 after purchasing an additional 439,009 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.10 on Thursday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1 year low of $1.88 and a 1 year high of $3.17. The company has a market capitalization of $48.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

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 business had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 12.40%. Research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.0546 dividend. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a yield of 4.4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

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.