Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Share Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 61.13 ($0.81) and traded as high as GBX 71.10 ($0.95). Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 70.32 ($0.93), with a volume of 86,028,359 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LLOY. Citigroup raised their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.81) to GBX 71 ($0.94) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.82) to GBX 71 ($0.94) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 64.25 ($0.85).

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of £42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 69 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 61.13.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.93), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,552.59). 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.