William John Sempolinski Invests $877,000 in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

William John Sempolinski purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,518 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $877,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,415,046,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% in the 4th 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 position in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the 4th 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.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.0%

CFG stock opened at $70.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $75.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.80. The firm has a market cap of $29.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CFG. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

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.