Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 193 ($2.50) and last traded at GBX 73.27 ($0.95), with a volume of 242791766 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 73.36 ($0.95).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LLOY has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 62 ($0.80) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 62.40 ($0.81).

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 66.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 59.92. The company has a market capitalization of £44.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of GBX 2.11 ($0.03) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $1.06. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers sold 11,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 70 ($0.91), for a total transaction of £7,936.60 ($10,272.59). Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.