Capital Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 65,344 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Capital Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake of 65,344 shares in Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) during Q4, valued at about $3.82 million per its Form 13F, and institutional investors now own roughly 94.90% of the stock.
• Citizens beat estimates in the most recent quarter with $1.13 EPS (vs. $1.10 expected) and revenue of $2.17 billion (up 12% YoY), and the bank announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share (ex-dividend April 30, yield ~2.9%).

Capital Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 65,344 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,817,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the bank's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 10,902 shares of the bank's stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,107 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 4,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 10,040 shares of the bank's stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $64.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.83. The company has a market cap of $27.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.88 and a 12 month high of $68.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays set a $77.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, New Street Research set a $73.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.88.

About Citizens Financial Group

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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