HighTower Advisors LLC Has $2.04 Million Stock Holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 750,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 155,159 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 339.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 58,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 45,341 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 519,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,621,000 after buying an additional 41,183 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 180,178 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 14,420 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 43.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 51,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 15,478 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

LYG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.4 %

LYG traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.84. The stock had a trading volume of 25,899,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,058,734. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.42 and a 1-year high of $3.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.04.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a positive change 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 dividend yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.