Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Stock

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from GBX 61 ($0.79) to GBX 71 ($0.91) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LLOY has been the subject of several other reports. Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.71) to GBX 62 ($0.80) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 60.60 ($0.78).

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at GBX 72.05 ($0.93) on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of GBX 61.69 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 58.53. The firm has a market capitalization of £43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12-month low of GBX 48.26 ($0.62) and a 12-month high of GBX 74.46 ($0.96).

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider William Chalmers bought 128,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 54 ($0.70) per share, for a total transaction of £69,554.16 ($89,631.65). Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.