Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $526,000 Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,513 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $3,415,046,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in 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 period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,242,000 after purchasing an additional 298,779 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% in the 4th 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. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $451,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,050 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $70.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.96 and a one year high of $75.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.66. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Argus set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens raised 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 note on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.