Allworth Financial LP Purchases 543,538 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Allworth Financial increased its Citizens Financial Group stake by 4,283.2% in the third quarter, buying 543,538 shares to hold 556,228 shares worth about $35.5 million.
• Analysts give CFG a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $76.79; the stock opened at $64.95. Its latest quarterly earnings beat EPS estimates ($1.41 versus $1.39), while revenue came in below forecasts.
• Citizens raised its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.52 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.08 and a 3.2% yield.

Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 4,283.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 556,228 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 543,538 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP owned 0.13% of Citizens Financial Group worth $35,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CFG. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 94,191.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 112,233,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,155,994,000 after acquiring an additional 112,114,251 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank's stock worth $775,663,000 after buying an additional 12,014,785 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank's stock valued at $282,927,000 after buying an additional 28,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target 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, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $64.95 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $65.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.68. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $75.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.74. 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 earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during 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 previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.52 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's 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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