Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Short Interest Update

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,770,000 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the February 28th total of 24,690,000 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 25,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter worth $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,154,000 after buying an additional 2,472,263 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of LYG stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $3.80. 33,552,042 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,281,133. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.07. Lloyds Banking Group has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.25.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.