3 Stocks Pushing The Financial Sector Higher

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model

All three major indices are trading down today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) trading down 23 points (-0.2%) at 13,146 as of Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, 11:50 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,344 issues advancing vs. 1,517 declining with 152 unchanged.

The Financial sector currently sits down 0.1% versus the S&P 500, which is down 0.3%. Top gainers within the sector include Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), up 1.5%, Nomura Holdings (NMR), up 1.4%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (The (RBS), up 1.1%, Banco Santander Chile (BSAC), up 1.1% and Banco Santander (SAN), up 0.9%. On the negative front, top decliners within the sector include Altisource Portfolio Solutions (ASPS), down 9.5%, MetLife (MET), down 2.6%, Discover Financial Services (DFS), down 2.2%, Charles Schwab (SCHW), down 1.6% and American Capital Agency (AGNC), down 1.1%.

TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the sector higher today:

3. Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) is one of the companies pushing the Financial sector higher today. As of noon trading, Lloyds Banking Group is up $0.03 (1.0%) to $3.01 on light volume Thus far, 244,497 shares of Lloyds Banking Group exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.6 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $3.01-$3.03 after having opened the day at $3.01 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $2.98.

Lloyds Banking Group plc provides banking and financial services to personal and corporate customers primarily in the United Kingdom. The company's Retail division provides banking, mortgages, and other financial services to personal customers. Lloyds Banking Group has a market cap of $51.6 billion and is part of the banking industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 11.9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 90.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday. Currently there are 3 analysts that rate Lloyds Banking Group a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and none rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Lloyds Banking Group as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, solid stock price performance and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the growth in the company's earnings per share has not been good. Get the full Lloyds Banking Group Ratings Report now.

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