Oh my giddy aunt , now making a charge at the one year high.

At long last it looks like the HFT'rs have given the old girl some reign.

This is going rather nicely.

Deutsche Bank today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Lloyds Banking Group PLC ORD (LON:LLOY) and raised its price target to 83p (from 77p).

It is following a similar pattern to last year. Drop then a run up to results, then drop and run up to div etc. Any guesses when this will bottom out this time?

Maybe a good time to start rotating back into Lloy. May go a little lower over the next few days. All sorts of excuses being dragged up for the fall in the Dow, but it may be nothing more than hair trigger automatic trading.

Brokers

Goldman has had the same pessimistic view for a long time now. Morgan Stanley has just come out with 75p. They can't both be right. Looking at the consensual views, GS is the outlier. Doesn't mean it is wrong in the long run but the dividend yield is still attractive.

Year end results due today, along with news of a share buy back scheme.

Good results. Maintains the dividend plus a billion £ buy back. Something for everyone.

StockMarketWire.com
Lloyds reported statutory profits before tax of £5.3bn in 2017, up 24% on £4.2bn the year before and revealed a £1bn share buyback.

The rise in profit offset the increased provision to PPI to £1,650m in 2017, of which £600 million was paid in the fourth quarter.

The lender said its common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio - a key measure of financial strength - stood at 15.5% excluding dividends at the end of 2017, compared with 14.1% at the end of 2016.

Lloyds increased its total ordinary dividend for the year to 3.05p, up 20% from 2.55p in 2016.

Underlying profit grew 8% to £8.5bn, with an underlying return on tangible equity of 15.6%.

Net income rose 5% to £17.5bn as net interest margin increased to 2.86%. Net interest margin is expected to improve to 2.9% in 2018.

The lender said it expects to deliver an improved return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 14.0 to 15.0% from 2019 onwards on a higher CET1 capital base of circa 13% plus a management buffer of around 1%.

'2017 has been a landmark year in which the group has made significant strategic progress and returned to full private ownership,' the company said in statement.

'We have delivered another year of strong financial performance in 2017 with increased profits and returns on both a statutory and underlying basis, strong capital generation and increased capital returns.'

Morgan Stanley today reaffirms its equal weight investment rating on Lloyds Banking Group PLC ORD (LON:LLOY) and raised its price target to 78p (from 75p).

Going for 70 :-)

Dividend now 3.05p giving a yield of 4.4%.

Share buyback of £1bn.

Current market cap £50m, so i will own the company in 50 years.

Or maybe it they buy back enough billions the share price will go to 550p which would be nice

Going going gone with the Market today
more good results to come next year
cheap on a PE of 8.8 for 2018

How Lloyds Bank shares can hit 92p

LLOYDS BANKING GROUP COMMENCES SHARE BUYBACK PROGRAMME

Lloyds Banking Group plc (the "Company") is today launching a share buyback programme to repurchase up to £1 billion of ordinary shares, as previously announced on 21 February 2018.

The Company has entered into an agreement with UBS AG, London Branch ("UBS") to conduct the share buyback programme on its behalf and to make trading decisions under the programme independently of the Company. Under the terms of the programme, the maximum consideration is £1 billion. The programme will commence on 8 March 2018 and will end no later than 4 February 2019. The sole purpose of the programme is to reduce the ordinary share capital of the Company.

UBS will purchase the Company's ordinary shares as principal and sell them on to the Company in accordance with the terms of their engagement. The Company intends to cancel the shares it purchases through the programme.

Any purchases of ordinary shares by the Company in relation to this announcement will be made in accordance with certain pre-set parameters set out in the terms of UBS's engagement, the general authority of the Company to repurchase shares granted by shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting held on 11 May 2017 (which permits the Company to purchase no more than 7,154,088,636 of the Company's ordinary shares), the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014), the Commission Delegated Regulation (2016/1052) and Chapter 12 of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules.

For the avoidance of doubt, no repurchases will be made in the United States or in respect of the Company's American Depositary Receipts.

- END -

Thanks CC for the L-T share-graph.... thought provoking, eh?

I don't recall ANY company that does "Buybacks" ever increasing shareholder value.... a minor-rise maybe; but fundamentally that money would be better in the hands of retail investors by way of a special dividend. THAT would make investors believe the stock was worth holding; maybe Buying some more with the hand-out.

The issue with Buybacks, IMHO is that whilst Institutions like it, since mathematically it really does increase the worth of the remaining shares... as soon as the Institutions Sell a few, the sp falls to earlier values..... since it only rose due to the cancellation. The net-worth of the Company really hasn't changed enough.... only who has the money.
Previously it was held by the Company as part of its Market-Worth ( i.e. the Mkt Value, plus Buildings & Cash, etc., minus Liabilities - which might include Pension Fund Deficits + PPI-Oops! ).
After the Buyback, the Co. has less Cash, but the Market-Worth aspect has increased very slightly, due to the rise in sp. It's a neutral position, IMHO.
-Yet the now-reduced amount of actual Cash means they can't invest in some worthwhile enterprise . . . difficult for Banks, naturally....but many Businesses could invest ( if they were awake to their Market ), in some Enterprise that would soon show some progress as a result of the Cash and maybe Group-Expertise.
To an extent "Buybacks" tell potential-investors that the Co. has no Ideas for the future. This is maybe why they tell the Market, months in advance, so when it happens they can say:- "...it was discussed / agreed some while prior" (( As if that makes it OK ! Huh! )).
Well I'm waiting for LLOY to clear their PPI liabilities . . . and then I might invest some more . . . but I suspect this could be some while to come.

A number of larger companies are seeming to carry out share buybacks over the last 12-18miths.

To me, it suggests lack of confidence in investing for the future.

I have to admit bought and sold and bought lloyds a few times.

Hope for 85p/share. (Possibly more.)