Morningstar Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC has acquired 7,772 shares of Citizens Financial Group, valued at approximately $348,000, indicating a positive outlook on the bank's performance.
• Citizens Financial Group's stock received multiple rating upgrades from analysts, with a recent target price increase from $52.00 to $65.00 by Bank of America, reflecting increased investor confidence.
• The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 3.8% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,772 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.86.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $51.75 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $51.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.98.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

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.

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