Lloyds share price
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY) is one of the largest financial institutions in the UK, with over 30 million customers globally. In addition, the bank has a presence in multiple European countries, the United States, Asia and the Middle East. The bank’s history dates back to 1695, when the Bank of Scotland was founded but has been evolving to date.
Lloyds Bank as we know it today resulted from a merger between Lloyds TSB and HBOS in 2009, which created the enlarged banking group.
The bank’s share price rose to a 5-month high on October 14, 2021, after analysts at Barclays investment bank singled it out as a top banking stock. The analysts predicted that Lloyd’s shares could rise another 11% in the future.
Analysts at the Bank of America (BoA) also had a similar view of Lloyd’s bank, including it in their list of top UK banking stocks likely to outperform their peers.
JPMorgan analysts noted that Lloyds bank could outperform other UK banks due to its vast branch network, which could be used to service complex customer needs results in higher fee revenues.
The bank’s recovering top-line results could also play a key role in its future performance as its consumer business recovers.
However, Lloyds bank faces a threat from rising digital banks that offer competing services and do not have the high costs of operating a physical branch network.