Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 339.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 58,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 45,341 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 180,178 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 627,592 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 73.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 687,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 290,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,154,000 after buying an additional 2,472,263 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE LYG traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.84. 21,756,551 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,390,044. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.45 and a 200-day moving average of $3.07. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12-month low of $2.42 and a 12-month high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released 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 business had revenue of $9.46 billion during 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%. On average, analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group 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. Stockholders 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 is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. 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.