Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Cuts Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD cut its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,734,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,227,331 shares during the period. Lloyds Banking Group comprises approximately 3.4% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $197,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LYG. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

LYG opened at $3.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3.18 and its 200 day moving average is $3.00. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 1.25.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LYG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.75.

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.