Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 58.88 ($0.76) and traded as high as GBX 69.44 ($0.90). Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 68.12 ($0.88), with a volume of 811,971,813 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on LLOY shares. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.71) to GBX 62 ($0.80) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 60.60 ($0.78).

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of £42.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 63.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 58.96.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. Research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider William Chalmers acquired 128,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 54 ($0.70) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($89,967.87). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.