Insider: directors sell £670k of Lloyds and another UK bank share

Senior executives at Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) and NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) have reaped the benefit of the UK banking sector’s re-rating by selling shares worth a combined £670,000.

Since January 2024, UK lenders’ share prices have increased by 86% on average, with NatWest outperforming its peers at 163% followed by Barclays at 125% and Lloyds at 75%.

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In dealings last week, Lloyds chief operating officer Ron van Kemenade raised just over £200,000 by reducing his shareholding at a price of 76.2p.

The shares were 55p in January and 45p when the former ING chief technology officer joined the group in spring 2023.

According to the regulatory filing by Lloyds, van Kemenade remains on track to comply with the group's shareholding policy requirements.

Two members of NatWest’s executive management team also sold shares last week. Chief operating officer Jen Tippin, who joined from Lloyds in 2020, raised almost £330,000 and Angela Byrne, who is interim head of retail banking, made £136,000.

They did so on Thursday at prices of 515p and 512p respectively, which compares with NatWest’s share price of 402p at the start of the year. The week before, NatWest's Group chief information officer Scott Marcar sold £279,000 of shares at 506.76p

On Friday, Deutsche Bank analysts published a bullish report on the UK banking sector that included a sweetened price target of 90p for Lloyds and further upside for NatWest to 600p.

They wrote: “The outlook for UK banks is bright and they screen particularly well against other European banks in the next three years.”

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The report said forecast revenue growth up to 2027 should translate into even stronger earnings per share growth, which in some cases is double the next best European bank.

Despite the positives, which also include expected dividend payout ratios equivalent to 40-50% of earnings, the bank said the UK sector still trades at a discount to European peers.

The report said: “The outlook for the next three years is very favourable and we do see acquisitions as both likely and potentially accretive. Our preference is for the superior and more predictable capital generation of Lloyds and NatWest.”

Selling UK tech

Among other disposals last week, Raspberry Pi Holdings (LSE:RPI) said that founder and chief executive Eben Upton has sold 14% of his total holding and finance chief Richard Boult 17%.

The dealings, which were for personal financial planning reasons, follow the expiry of the customary lock-up arrangements after the company’s stock market listing last June. Upton raised £1.8 million and Boult £450,000 by selling shares at a price of 454.5p.

The price was 280p when the Cambridge-based maker of low-cost general-purpose computing platforms started trading last year, rising to 766p at the end of January. Upton retains a shareholding worth about £11.5 million and Boult £2.2 million.

Mid-cap bargain hunting

The boardroom leaders of FTSE 250-listed Hays (LSE:HAS) and Ibstock (LSE:IBST) have backed their shares to recover after they were pummelled in the wake of profit warnings.

Ibstock chair Richard Akers, who joined the board in May, spent £155,000 on Thursday at a price of 155p. This compares with 193p prior to downgraded guidance on 11 June.

The leading UK provider of bricks and other building products said trading conditions had continued to improve, particularly in the new-build residential sector.

However, this has been offset by revised assumptions on selling prices and the cost of bringing kilns back into action in readiness for the market upturn.

Chief executive Joe Hudson said: “Notwithstanding the margin headwinds encountered in 2025, we remain confident that our recent actions alongside our strategic investments leave us well positioned as activity levels continue to pick up."

UBS cut its price target to 210p following the update but said medium-term recovery potential remains attractive and is supported by a well invested capital base. Peel Hunt left its price target unchanged at 190p, while Deutsche Bank reduced to 220p.

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Hays chair Michael Findlay, who started in his role on 1 May, spent £20,000 on shares with the recruitment company trading at a multi-year low price of 57.9p.

The group earlier said profits for the June financial year will be £10 million short of City forecasts, reflecting “broad-based weakness” in the permanent recruitment market.

On Friday, UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral with a lower price target of 70p.

With no end in sight to the longest hiring downturn in two decades, the bank cut its net fee forecasts to reflect another six months of sequential decline and a much more cautious view of any profit rebuild.

It said: “We believe Hays' profits, and valuation, will need a more supportive environment to sustainably reaccelerate - and that now appears further (away) than hoped.