Heartland Bank & Trust Co Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,719 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,431,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,204 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,715,000 after buying an additional 1,507,536 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.89.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $41.70. The company had a trading volume of 6,122,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,819,239. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.18. The company has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 6.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.33%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.