Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Stock Price

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) had its price target increased by Citigroup from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.91) in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.71) to GBX 62 ($0.80) and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 60.60 ($0.78).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at GBX 72.05 ($0.93) on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of £43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 61.69 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 58.53. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1 year low of GBX 48.26 ($0.62) and a 1 year high of GBX 74.46 ($0.96).

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider William Chalmers bought 128,804 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.70) per share, with a total value of £69,554.16 ($89,631.65). Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.