Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $3.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group has a 1-year low of $2.35 and a 1-year high of $3.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.96.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 8.46%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $72,540,000 after buying an additional 2,713,559 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 14.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,280,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472,263 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,404,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,620,000 after acquiring an additional 453,326 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 34.7% in 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 225.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,098,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,914,680 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.