Analysts Set Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Price Target at GBX 56

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 58 ($0.74).

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LLOY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.70) to GBX 62 ($0.79) and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Shore Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LON LLOY opened at GBX 71.28 ($0.90) on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 59.49 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 57.88. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52-week low of GBX 46.22 ($0.59) and a 52-week high of GBX 72 ($0.91). The company has a market capitalization of £43.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported GBX 6.30 ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lloyds Banking Group

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers acquired 128,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 54 ($0.68) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($88,210.73). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Lloyds Banking Group

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.