Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Bought by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors significantly increased its Citizens Financial Group position by 40,151.5% in the third quarter, acquiring 2.08 million shares worth approximately $132.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of CFG.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 16 analysts rating the stock Strong Buy or Buy and a consensus price target of $79.08, versus the reported opening price of $62.51.
• Citizens Financial Group exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.30 in earnings per share and $2.28 billion in revenue; revenue rose 12.1% year over year.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 40,151.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,083,016 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 2,077,841 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.49% of Citizens Financial Group worth $132,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,415,046,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 purchasing an additional 28,602 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank's stock worth $258,265,000 after buying an additional 875,666 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $223,386,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.08.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $62.51 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.96 and a 1-year high of $75.33. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $68.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branches, digital channels and other delivery platforms.

The company's consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lending, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Through its commercial banking operations, Citizens provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, capital markets services and other solutions for companies and institutional clients.

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