Insider Selling: Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Insider Sells 11,338 Shares of Stock

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.91), for a total value of £7,936.60 ($10,275.25).

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 1.3 %

LON LLOY opened at GBX 73.32 ($0.95) on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12 month low of GBX 49.42 ($0.64) and a 12 month high of GBX 74.46 ($0.96). The company has a market capitalization of £44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 65.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 59.58.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. This represents a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LLOY. Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.80) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 62.40 ($0.81).

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.