Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Purchases 25,725 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 358,490 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,725 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $13,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $68,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CFG shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.60.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,772,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,510,781. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.36 and a 200 day moving average of $34.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $43.96.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.