Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 98.95 and traded as high as GBX 100.75. Lloyds Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 98.18, with a volume of 2,147,000,000 shares traded.

Lloyds Banking Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lloyds Banking Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lloyds announced a partnership with Stripe to offer payments software to business customers, potentially strengthening its small-business proposition and expanding fee-based revenue opportunities. Lloyds to Offer Stripe’s Payments Software to Business Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Lloyds Banking Group continued its buyback program, repurchasing and cancelling shares, which reduces share count and can boost earnings per share over time. Lloyds Banking Group Buys Back and Cancels 5 Million Shares
• Positive Sentiment: The new rewards section in Lloyds’ app and related customer promotions could improve engagement and help retain retail banking clients. Lloyds launches new rewards section in its app – and you could win £2,000
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that some branches and bank locations are closing this week are part of the wider industry shift to digital banking, but could still raise concerns about service access for some customers. Banks closing this week including Halifax, NatWest, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland – full list
• Neutral Sentiment: Halifax’s latest survey showed UK house prices fell again in May, highlighting a weaker housing market that could weigh on lending sentiment and mortgage-related growth. U.K. House Prices Fall For Third Month: Halifax Survey
• Negative Sentiment: Calls for Lloyds to restore cheque deposits at banking hubs suggest customer service pressure around branch access remains a reputational issue. MP joins call for Lloyds to restore cheque deposits at banking hubs

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LLOY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 171 to GBX 121 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Shore Capital Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 114 to GBX 123 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 125 price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 120 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 113.44.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £57.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 98.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 98.95.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.40 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 478.50 billion during the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 25.91% and a return on equity of 10.75%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current year.

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.