Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its stake in Citizens Financial by 2.3% in Q4, selling 25,405 shares and leaving it with 1,057,181 shares (about 0.25% of the company) valued at roughly $61.75 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive—20 analysts rate CFG a Buy and one a Hold, giving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of $69.14, and several firms recently raised their price targets.
• Citizens posted a Q4 EPS beat ($1.13 vs. $1.11) on $2.16 billion revenue, the stock trades in the mid-$60s with a market cap of $27.56 billion and pays a $0.46 quarterly dividend (≈2.8% yield).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,057,181 shares of the bank's stock after selling 25,405 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Citizens Financial Group worth $61,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 132.6% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 35,104 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 20,009 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,354 shares of the bank's stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,953 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 6,439 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,590,000. Finally, Lee Financial Co increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 35,759 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,089,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CFG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a $77.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $64.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.70. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.95 and a 12 month high of $68.79. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $61.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 47.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 165,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,632,956.84. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group 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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