212,856 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Purchased by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 212,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% in 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,659,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,778,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,914 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,611,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,984,000 after purchasing an additional 604,924 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,601,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,236,000 after purchasing an additional 150,178 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,226,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

LYG stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $3.68. 11,667,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,645,348. The firm has a market cap of $55.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.95. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.42 and a 1-year high of $3.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $3.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.10.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. On average, research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.1035 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company 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.