Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Raises Dividend to GBX 2.11 Per Share

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) declared a dividend on Thursday, February 20th, DividendData.Co.Uk reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a 99.1% increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 3.0 %

LON:LLOY opened at GBX 65.96 ($0.84) on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is GBX 67.77 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 60.43. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of GBX 49.42 ($0.63) and a 12 month high of GBX 74.46 ($0.95). The stock has a market capitalization of £40.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34, 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 data 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 net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.90) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.78) to GBX 71 ($0.90) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 62.40 ($0.79).

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.89), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,102.60). Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.