Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Stake Raised by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,577,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,841,956 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $23,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25,351,270 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 149.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,406,673 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 195.8% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,833,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 114.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,487,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,589 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. 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. Citigroup downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets began coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

LYG opened at $3.11 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.79. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $1.88 and a 12-month high of $3.14.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.0546 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.