Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 45,499 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,039,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,499 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $2,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,226,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,713,559 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 stake in Lloyds Banking Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,440,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 3,120.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 640,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 620,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LYG shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2.75.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 0.1 %

LYG stock opened at $3.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.95. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.42 and a fifty-two week high of $3.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.10.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its 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 net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS 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 issued a $0.1035 dividend. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio 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.