Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Newly Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group opened a new position in Citizens Financial Group, buying 865,672 shares worth about $55.2 million, or 0.21% of the bank.
• Analysts give CFG a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $76.79; institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.9% of its shares.
• Citizens reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, beating estimates of $1.39, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.52 per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 865,672 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $55,195,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Citizens Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth $223,386,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 145,378 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,187,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $95,642,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 145.6% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 773,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,330,000 after acquiring an additional 458,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $2,164,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.9%

CFG stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $75.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.