Wallace Advisory Group LLC Invests $59,000 in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 106,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 21,709 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 822,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,245,000 after buying an additional 162,369 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 51,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 21,612 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 138,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 49,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decatur Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Kepler Capital Markets began coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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 research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $3.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.01 and its 200 day moving average is $2.82. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $1.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (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 company 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 earnings per share 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 given a $0.0546 dividend. This represents a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.