GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 9,028 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 941,172 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,028 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $50,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 687,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,553,000 after buying an additional 140,641 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth $7,528,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 33.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 135,208 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,188,000 after acquiring an additional 33,923 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,415 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,284,000 after acquiring an additional 129,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 856,204 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,315,000 after acquiring an additional 42,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $60.17 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $68.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.23.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 15.19%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CFG. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays set a $77.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday. New Street Research set a $73.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.73.

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.