Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $1.01 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Landscape Capital Management purchased 14,354 shares of Citizens Financial Group worth approximately $1.01 million, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.9% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 16 Buy ratings and four Holds; the average price target is $79.25, above the stock’s reported $69.84 opening price.
• Citizens Financial Group exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.30 in EPS and $2.28 billion in revenue, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.46, representing a 2.6% yield.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 14,354 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank's stock worth $451,075,000 after buying an additional 2,799,050 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $175,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $174,108,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $69.84 on Monday. 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 $29.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company's fifty day moving average price is $71.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.57.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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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