Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Invests $139,000 in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 51,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $139,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE LYG opened at $3.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.11 and a 200-day moving average of $2.99. The stock has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 52-week low of $2.42 and a 52-week high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

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.