Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE:LYG opened at $3.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group has a twelve month low of $2.42 and a twelve month high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. On average, analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given 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 yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,914,680 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth about $11,226,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,039 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,669,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472,263 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.