Independent Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,720 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after acquiring an additional 298,779 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,953,372 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,574,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $384,029,000 after purchasing an additional 763,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $71.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.90 and a 12-month high of $74.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.26 and its 200 day moving average is $63.99.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

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.