Impact Capital Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of LYG opened at $3.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.20 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12 month low of $2.42 and a 12 month high of $3.91. The firm has a market cap of $55.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.25.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.1035 dividend. 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 yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.