Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stake

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel increased its Citizens Financial Group stake by 17.8% in the third quarter, adding 21,910 shares and bringing its holdings to 145,022 shares valued at approximately $8.6 million.
• Institutional investors own 94.9% of CFG’s stock, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $79.08.
• CFG shares opened at $62.51, down 1.2%, despite the bank reporting quarterly EPS of $1.30 and revenue of $2.28 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,022 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 21,910 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $8,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.08.

Insider Activity 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 value of $9,323,623.83. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $62.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.40 and a 200 day moving average of $67.03. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.96 and a fifty-two week high of $75.33.

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

Citizens Financial Group Profile

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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