Hosking Partners LLP Sells 41,628 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Hosking Partners reduced its Citizens Financial Group stake by 13.9%, selling 41,628 shares and retaining 258,224 shares worth approximately $16.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.9% of CFG.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with one Strong Buy, 15 Buy, and four Hold ratings. The consensus price target is $77.47, compared with the stock’s reported price of $64.90.
• Citizens Financial Group raised its quarterly dividend to $0.52 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.08 payout and a 3.2% yield. The bank also exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.41 versus the $1.39 consensus estimate.

Hosking Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,224 shares of the bank's stock after selling 41,628 shares during the quarter. Hosking Partners LLP owned 0.06% of Citizens Financial Group worth $16,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 12,014,785 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 8,523,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during 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 raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank's stock valued at $258,265,000 after acquiring an additional 875,666 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Argus set a $80.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.47.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $64.90 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $67.48 and its 200 day moving average is $67.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $75.33. The firm has a market cap of $27.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.72.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.