Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 26,874 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 52.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,874 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $65,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,914 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $227,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,126,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after buying an additional 70,838 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 288,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 39,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 389.2% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 133,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 106,128 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE:LYG opened at $3.78 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 52 week low of $2.42 and a 52 week high of $3.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.11. The firm has a market cap of $57.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.