Marino Stram & Associates LLC Boosts Stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 430.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 105,407 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LYG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,154,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,163 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,492,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,083,000 after buying an additional 863,347 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 8,199,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,321,000 after buying an additional 1,100,359 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 6.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,011,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,785,000 after acquiring an additional 399,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,831,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,458,000 after acquiring an additional 18,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LYG stock opened at $4.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.44 and a 200 day moving average of $4.14. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 52 week low of $2.56 and a 52 week high of $4.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.0655 per share. This represents a yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LYG has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.