Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from GBX 55 to GBX 62. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Lloyds Banking Group traded as high as GBX 69.23 ($0.87) and last traded at GBX 68.62 ($0.86), with a volume of 222825781 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.32 ($0.85).

Separately, Shore Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 58 ($0.73).

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.68) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($87,665.94). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 59.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 57.99. The stock has a market capitalization of £43.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

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

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.