Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 24,392 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 632,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,392 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LYG. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LYG opened at $3.72 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a one year low of $2.42 and a one year high of $3.91.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.1035 dividend. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

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.