Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 50.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,352 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,478 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 4,739 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 65,564 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,934,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $72.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.89. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.63 and a fifty-two week high of $74.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.91%.

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.