Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 33.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CFG. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,366,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 606,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,845,000 after acquiring an additional 17,755 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,550,000 after purchasing an additional 587,115 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 115.2% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 98,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 52,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Raymond James raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.78.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $47.52 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.66.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 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 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.14%.

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.