11,743 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Purchased by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 115.2% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 88,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 47,573 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 19.1% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 306,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 49,237 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 56.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 22,209 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,894,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,269,000 after buying an additional 18,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $3.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.42 and a 1-year high of $3.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3.11 and its 200-day moving average is $2.99.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.