Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 73.32 ($0.93) and last traded at GBX 72.52 ($0.92), with a volume of 250947625 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 72.98 ($0.93).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Shore Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.70) to GBX 62 ($0.79) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 58 ($0.74).

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.1 %

The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 60.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 58.21. The stock has a market cap of £43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers purchased 128,804 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.69) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($88,390.09). 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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.