Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Purchased by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 742,092 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 121,259 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at $11,226,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,456,914 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter valued at $5,440,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 3,120.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 640,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 620,325 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of LYG stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.95. 14,606,594 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,047,668. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 1-year low of $2.55 and a 1-year high of $3.96. The firm has a market cap of $59.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $3.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.15.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.1035 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.61%.

Lloyds Banking Group 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.