Andra AP fonden Raises Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Andra AP fonden nearly doubled its Citizens Financial Group stake in the second quarter, adding 131,300 shares to reach 269,900 shares valued at approximately $18.9 million.
• Institutional investors own 94.9% of CFG, while CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares worth about $9.3 million, reducing his direct ownership by 10.19%.
• Citizens Financial Group beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reported year-over-year revenue growth of 12.1%, and maintains a $0.46 quarterly dividend. Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $79.80.

Andra AP fonden increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 94.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,900 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 131,300 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden owned 0.06% of Citizens Financial Group worth $18,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $661,052,000 after acquiring an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,799,000 after purchasing an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,914,000 after purchasing an additional 94,774 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,426,000 after purchasing an additional 20,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $95,642,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.62. 1,827,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,597,701. The firm has a market cap of $27.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $71.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.96 and a twelve month 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.80.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Bank, the company provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, institutions and government entities.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, credit cards, business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, investment banking, capital markets services and wealth management.

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