Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 193 ($2.48) and last traded at GBX 73.27 ($0.94), with a volume of 242791766 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 73.36 ($0.94).

Analyst Ratings Changes

LLOY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.80) to GBX 71 ($0.91) and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.91) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 62.40 ($0.80).

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of £44.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 66.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 59.69.

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 for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a GBX 2.11 ($0.03) dividend. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.01%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.90), for a total value of £7,936.60 ($10,218.36). 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.