Choate Investment Advisors Makes New Investment in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Choate Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,474,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,601,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,236,000 after acquiring an additional 150,178 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 632,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 24,392 shares during the period. Finally, Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $3.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.01. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a one year low of $2.42 and a one year high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.