Bank of America Corp DE Purchases Shares of 3,188,042 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 3.19 million shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter, valued at approximately $223.4 million and representing a 0.76% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of the bank.
• Citizens Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, exceeding estimates of $1.25, while revenue rose 12.1% year over year to $2.28 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.46, yielding about 2.8% annually.
• The stock opened at $66.80 after declining 4.9%; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $79.80, although CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares in July.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,188,042 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $223,386,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.76% of Citizens Financial Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 4.9%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $66.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.96 and a one year high of $75.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.66. The business's fifty day moving average is $71.31 and its 200 day moving average is $66.14.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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%.Citizens Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.80.

About Citizens Financial Group

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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