112,114,251 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management acquired 112.1 million Citizens Financial shares in the third quarter, bringing its holding to 112.2 million shares—about 26.77% of the company, valued at roughly $7.16 billion.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with a $76.79 average price target; 17 analysts rated the stock Buy and four rated it Hold.
• Citizens reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, slightly above estimates, while revenue came in below expectations. The bank also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.52 per share.

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 94,191.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,233,279 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 112,114,251 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group accounts for 2.1% of Fisher Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 26.77% of Citizens Financial Group worth $7,155,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 55 North Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% in the third quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the bank's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 56,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,946,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 5,263 shares of the bank's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,111 shares of the bank's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Trustmark Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% during the second quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 4,278 shares of the bank's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CFG. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $64.95 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $75.33. The company has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.85%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.

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