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

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 7,720 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,050 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,731,592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $276,372,000 after buying an additional 2,232,806 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,513,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $205,217,000 after buying an additional 2,027,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position 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 valued at $467,389,000 after buying an additional 1,953,372 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $71.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.99. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.90 and a twelve month high of $74.70.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.55.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

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.