Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,658 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,415,046,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $467,389,000 after buying an additional 1,953,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after buying an additional 2,799,050 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $69.86 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, August 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.