Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Position Lowered by Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ trimmed its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,775 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the period. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CFG. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $861,383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,203,831 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,465,824 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $192,928,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1,213.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,746,064 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.88.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.08. 1,467,932 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,844,073. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $36.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.02%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.