Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Raises Dividend to $0.10 Per Share

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) announced a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.1035 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05.

Lloyds Banking Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 28.8% per year over the last three years. Lloyds Banking Group has a payout ratio of 24.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lloyds Banking Group to earn $0.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.11 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.8%.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.69. The stock had a trading volume of 72,891,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,424,299. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.31. Lloyds Banking Group has a one year low of $2.30 and a one year high of $3.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.96 and its 200 day moving average is $2.95.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.75.

About Lloyds Banking Group

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.