Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Short Interest Up 56.9% in February

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 24,690,000 shares, a growth of 56.9% from the February 13th total of 15,740,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 23,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,444,000 after buying an additional 4,021,039 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,263 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LYG. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYG traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.69. 14,824,387 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,637,360. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of $2.42 and a 52-week high of $3.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.00.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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