Pitcairn Co. Purchases 5,003 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,003 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,778,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,914 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,035,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after buying an additional 180,178 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 288,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 39,685 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on LYG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 7.8 %

NYSE:LYG opened at $3.39 on Monday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12 month low of $2.42 and a 12 month high of $3.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.08. The stock has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

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

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.