Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Should You Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 32,247,814 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 132% from the previous session's volume of 13,885,036 shares.The stock last traded at $3.78 and had previously closed at $3.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LYG has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $3.31 and its 200-day moving average is $3.03.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. On average, analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

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Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.1035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group's payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,713,559 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,263 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,620,000 after purchasing an additional 453,326 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,309,000 after buying an additional 4,914,680 shares during the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.