Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 60.33 ($0.78) and traded as high as GBX 71.42 ($0.92). Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 69.70 ($0.90), with a volume of 165,195,781 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LLOY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.80) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 62.40 ($0.80).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 67.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 60.38. The stock has a market cap of £39.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.90), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,238.13). Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.