76,007 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by Herold Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Herold Advisors sharply increased its Citizens Financial Group position by acquiring 76,007 shares, bringing its total holdings to 80,079 shares valued at approximately $5.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of CFG.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.58, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• CFG reported quarterly earnings of $1.41 per share, slightly exceeding estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.52 per share, implying a 3.3% annualized yield.

Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 1,866.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,079 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 76,007 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group makes up 0.9% of Herold Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Herold Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $5,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank's stock worth $586,883,000 after buying an additional 8,523,938 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,386,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $207,234,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $188,380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.58.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $62.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,504,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,608,088. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.00 and a 1-year high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.

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