Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Bought by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,022 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $56,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at $136,000. Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,474,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,601,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,236,000 after buying an additional 150,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LYG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:LYG opened at $3.71 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.42 and a 1-year high of $3.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.01.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly 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). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Equities analysts predict 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.1035 dividend. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.