Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 22,808 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,830 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,808 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forthright Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,372 shares of the bank’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,565,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,529,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CFG. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Stephens assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

CFG stock opened at $69.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.03. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.67 and a fifty-two week high of $69.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.68.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 43.50%.

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.