AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 196,085 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its position in Citizens Financial Group by 16.5% in Q4, selling 196,085 shares and leaving it with 994,070 shares (about 0.23% of CFG) valued at roughly $58.06 million.
• Insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares on March 11 at an average price of $58.04 (≈$769,494), a 7.4% reduction in her stake; institutions own 94.9% of CFG while insiders hold 0.67%.
• Citizens beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.13 vs $1.10) and reported 12% revenue growth to $2.17B, announced a $0.46 quarterly dividend (ex-dividend 4/30, yield 2.9%), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with a $70.86 target.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 994,070 shares of the bank's stock after selling 196,085 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.23% of Citizens Financial Group worth $58,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank's stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 93.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,814 shares of the bank's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 5.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 65,564 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,934,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CFG. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research set a $73.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.86.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $63.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $35.90 and a one year high of $68.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.50%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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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