Ascent Group LLC Acquires 21,612 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,612 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,967,000 after buying an additional 25,351,270 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $52,978,000 after buying 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% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 21,147,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,966,000 after buying an additional 10,406,673 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,415,000 after buying an additional 2,841,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,472,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,939,000 after buying an additional 804,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.45. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a one year low of $1.88 and a one year high of $3.18. The stock has a market cap of $47.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Kepler Capital Markets assumed coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.