HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 155,159 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 155,159 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LYG. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 339.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 58,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 45,341 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 519,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 41,183 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 180,178 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 14,420 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 43.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 51,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 15,478 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE LYG opened at $3.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.03. The stock has a market cap of $56.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

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.