Insider Selling: Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) CEO Sells $9,323,623.83 in Stock

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $1.81 on Tuesday, hitting $72.91. 5,125,892 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,971,500. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.90 and a 1 year high of $74.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,731,592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,232,806 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,513,388 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $205,217,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,953,372 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

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.