Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its stake in CFG by 14.6% in Q4 (sold 57,838 shares) even as major institutions like Capital World Investors, Invesco and Nordea boosted their holdings; institutional ownership is about 94.9%.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: 19 analysts rate CFG a Buy and one a Hold, giving a consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $70.88.
• CFG beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.13 vs. $1.10) with revenue up 12% year-over-year and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 (annualized yield ≈2.8%).

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 339,374 shares of the bank's stock after selling 57,838 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI owned 0.08% of Citizens Financial Group worth $19,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,289,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,982,532,000 after acquiring an additional 614,181 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,279,270,000 after acquiring an additional 393,158 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,220,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,222,000 after acquiring an additional 505,614 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,574,714 shares of the bank's stock valued at $384,029,000 after acquiring an additional 763,098 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,047,378 shares of the bank's stock valued at $321,534,000 after acquiring an additional 138,688 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at $9,632,956.84. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $65.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.70. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.72 and a 1 year high of $68.79.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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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