Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock Position Lifted by Westside Investment Management Inc.

Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 163,230.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,333 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,323 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $775,663,000 after acquiring an additional 12,014,785 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,883,000 after acquiring an additional 8,523,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $282,927,000 after acquiring an additional 28,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,265,000 after acquiring an additional 875,666 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 3.2%

NYSE CFG opened at $63.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.01 and its 200 day moving average is $65.63.

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

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 41.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Seventeen investment 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 $76.79.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.