957,732 Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Acquired by Bruni J V & Co. Co.

Key Points

• Bruni J V & Co. Co. acquired 957,732 shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter, making CFG about 6.1% of its portfolio and its fourth-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 16 Buy ratings and four Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.05.
• Citizens Financial Group exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.30 in EPS versus $1.25 forecast and revenue of $2.28 billion. The bank also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, equivalent to a 2.5% annualized yield.

Bruni J V & Co. Co. acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 957,732 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $67,108,281,000. Citizens Financial Group makes up about 6.1% of Bruni J V & Co. Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Bruni J V & Co. Co. owned 0.23% of Citizens Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,799,000 after acquiring an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,914,000 after acquiring an additional 94,774 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,426,000 after acquiring an additional 20,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 100,617 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,225 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was 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 directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $73.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.96 and a 52-week high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc NYSE: CFG is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.

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