Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 22,808 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,808 shares and leaving it with 42,830 shares valued at about $2.5 million.
• Citizens Financial Group’s stock and fundamentals remain solid: shares recently traded near a 52-week high of $69.09, and the company reported Q1 earnings of $1.13 per share, topping estimates while revenue rose 12% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is still positive, with 18 Buy ratings and 2 Hold ratings, a consensus “Moderate Buy” view, and a target price of $71.21. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, implying a 2.7% yield.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,830 shares of the bank's stock after selling 22,808 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 632.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 710 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.21.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $69.07 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.67 and a 52-week high of $69.09. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.23 and a 200-day moving average of $62.03.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

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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