Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Stock

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Free Report) had its target price raised by Citigroup from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.92) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.71) to GBX 62 ($0.80) and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Shore Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lloyds Banking Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of GBX 60.60 ($0.78).

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of LLOY traded down GBX 1.54 ($0.02) during trading hours on Thursday, reaching GBX 69.38 ($0.90). 1,093,097,000 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 190,695,484. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of GBX 48.26 ($0.62) and a 12 month high of GBX 74.46 ($0.96). The stock has a market cap of £42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 62.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 58.61.

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Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider William Chalmers bought 128,804 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 54 ($0.70) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($89,909.72). 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.