Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Short Interest Up 56.9% in February

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 24,690,000 shares, an increase of 56.9% from the February 13th total of 15,740,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 23,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LYG. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.75.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the fourth 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 stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 38,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 109,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,728 shares during the period. Finally, Brio Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 16,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE:LYG traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $3.71. 11,284,666 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,628,585. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $3.91. The firm has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.00.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.1035 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.