Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Takes Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake 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 firm purchased 51,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $139,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth $11,226,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 3,120.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 640,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 620,325 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,126,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,064,000 after acquiring an additional 70,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.99. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $3.91. The firm has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.25.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend payout ratio 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.