Wealth Alliance Purchases New Stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 49,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $135,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 89,948,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,967,000 after buying an additional 25,351,270 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,696,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,975,000 after purchasing an additional 17,814,615 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 96.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 195.8% in the 1st 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. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $3.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.00 and a 200-day moving average of $2.79. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. The business 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.0546 dividend. 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. This represents a yield of 4.4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LYG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Kepler Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.38.

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.