Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Acquires New Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired 22,096 shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.55 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of CFG’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: 16 rate the stock a Buy and four rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.05.
• Citizens Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, exceeding estimates by $0.05, while revenue rose 12.1% year over year to $2.28 billion. The bank also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, representing a 2.5% annualized yield.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,096 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,799,000 after purchasing an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,914,000 after buying an additional 94,774 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,426,000 after buying an additional 20,008 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 100,617 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,877,000 after buying an additional 17,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.05.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $73.45 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.92 and its 200-day moving average is $65.43.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were 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 owned 1,140,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

About Citizens Financial Group

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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