Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 24,392 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 632,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,392 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,778,000 after buying an additional 2,456,914 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,035,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 180,178 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,703,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after purchasing an additional 627,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 288,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 39,685 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $3.72 on Tuesday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1 year low of $2.42 and a 1 year high of $3.91. The company has a market capitalization of $56.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.01.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This represents a yield of 4%. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.