Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.39 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 19,855 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,391,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% in 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. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $355,909,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. 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 insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $73.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.92 and its 200 day moving average is $65.43. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.96 and a one year high of $75.33. The firm has a market cap of $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Argus set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.05.

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.