Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases New Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 28,670 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,799,000 after buying an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,914,000 after acquiring an additional 94,774 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,426,000 after acquiring an additional 20,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 100,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $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.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $74.39 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.96 and a one year high of $75.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.77 and its 200 day moving average is $65.36. The company has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the business’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 value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CFG shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Argus set a $80.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.05.

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.