Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock Purchased by Abel Hall LLC

Key Points

• Abel Hall LLC increased its Citizens Financial Group stake by 908.3% in the third quarter, acquiring 43,171 additional shares for a total holding valued at approximately $3.06 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.9% of CFG shares.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.58. CFG most recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue came in below consensus.
• Citizens Financial Group raised its quarterly dividend to $0.52 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $2.08 and a 3.3% yield. Shares recently traded at $62.70, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 908.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,924 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 43,171 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group makes up 0.5% of Abel Hall LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Abel Hall LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,415,046,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank's stock worth $586,883,000 after purchasing an additional 8,523,938 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank's stock worth $282,927,000 after purchasing an additional 28,602 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank's stock worth $258,265,000 after purchasing an additional 875,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $223,386,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CFG shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Stephens increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $82.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $62.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,835,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,635,413. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.00 and a 1-year high of $75.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $26.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued 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 yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

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 consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.

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