Fulcrum Asset Management LLP Purchases 139,556 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Fulcrum Asset Management initiated a position in Citizens Financial Group, buying 139,556 shares worth approximately $8.9 million in the third quarter.
• Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $76.79; 17 analysts rate the stock Buy and four rate it Hold.
• Citizens reported quarterly EPS of $1.41, slightly above estimates, while revenue of $2.32 billion fell short of forecasts. The bank also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.52 per share.

Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 139,556 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $8,898,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank's stock worth $775,663,000 after buying an additional 12,014,785 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank's stock worth $586,883,000 after buying an additional 8,523,938 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank's stock worth $282,927,000 after acquiring an additional 28,602 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank's stock worth $258,265,000 after acquiring an additional 875,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, October 19th. UBS Group dropped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $63.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $65.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.64. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $75.33. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio 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.

Citizens traces its history to High Street Bank, founded in Providence in 1828.

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