Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 64.84 ($0.82) and last traded at GBX 64.70 ($0.81), with a volume of 838876688 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 62.84 ($0.79).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LLOY shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a GBX 60 ($0.76) target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 56 ($0.70).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 58.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 57.47. The stock has a market capitalization of £40.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lloyds Banking Group

In other news, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.68) per share, with a total value of £69,554.16 ($87,522.54). Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.