Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 33,659 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after acquiring an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,799,000 after purchasing an additional 85,052 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,914,000 after acquiring an additional 94,774 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,426,000 after purchasing an additional 20,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 100,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,225 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $70.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.96 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.65.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.