Impact Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 16,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 30.8% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 60,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LYG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LYG opened at $3.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a one year low of $2.42 and a one year high of $3.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.20 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released 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 firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors 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 is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend 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.