Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Acquired by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,390 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings 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 worth $232,967,000 after buying an additional 25,351,270 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 149.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,166,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,775 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position 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 valued at $50,966,000 after buying an additional 10,406,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,625,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,528,000 after buying an additional 439,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LYG shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $2.75 target price for the company. 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, Citigroup lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.38.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.04 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. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $1.88 and a fifty-two week high of $3.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.66. The company has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 1.35.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. The company 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%. Analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.0546 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.