Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Increases Stake

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 7,979.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,014,785 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group accounts for 0.9% of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $775,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $223,386,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $95,642,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 145,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,187,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 1,307,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,605,000 after acquiring an additional 42,248 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 94.7% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 269,900 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,912,000 after acquiring an additional 131,300 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.47.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.4%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $64.25 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.72. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.85%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was 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 directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% 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 hyperlink. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.