Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Sold by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 24.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,967,000 after purchasing an additional 25,351,270 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,252,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 49.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841,956 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 195.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,833,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875,688 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 114.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,487,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of LYG opened at $3.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.83. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $1.88 and a 1-year high of $3.18. The stock has a market cap of $48.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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