Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 58.88 ($0.76) and traded as high as GBX 69.44 ($0.90). Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 68.12 ($0.88), with a volume of 811,971,813 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LLOY. Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.71) to GBX 62 ($0.80) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 60.60 ($0.78).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 63.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 58.96. The stock has a market capitalization of £42.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers bought 128,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.70) per share, with a total value of £69,554.16 ($89,967.87). Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.