Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,770,000 shares, a decrease of 15.9% from the February 28th total of 24,690,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 25,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,914 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,035,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 180,178 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,703,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,316,000 after acquiring an additional 627,592 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LYG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE LYG traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.67. 35,435,706 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,478,971. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $2.42 and a 52 week high of $3.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.08.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is 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.