AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 36,811 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its Citizens Financial Group stake by 3.7% in the first quarter, selling 36,811 shares and leaving it with 957,259 shares valued at about $57.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Citizens Financial Group has 18 Buy ratings and 2 Hold ratings, with a consensus target price of $70.88. Recent updates included higher price targets and an upgrade from Robert W. Baird to outperform.
• Citizens Financial Group reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.13 versus the $1.10 estimate and revenue of $2.17 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share for a 2.7% yield.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 957,259 shares of the bank's stock after selling 36,811 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned approximately 0.23% of Citizens Financial Group worth $57,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,289,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,982,532,000 after purchasing an additional 614,181 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,279,270,000 after buying an additional 393,158 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank's stock worth $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank's stock valued at $467,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953,372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.88.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.1%

CFG stock opened at $67.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business's 50-day moving average is $64.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.79. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.37 and a fifty-two week high of $68.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio 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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