Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 92.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 173,782 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $41,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $177,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,322,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,596,000 after buying an additional 280,214 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 38,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,451 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 35,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,604,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,021,039 shares during the period. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $4.00 on Monday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $2.56 and a fifty-two week high of $4.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.24.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed 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. 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 currently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.