Ballast Inc. Acquires 61,146 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Ballast Inc. increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1,329.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,746 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,146 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group accounts for 0.8% of Ballast Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $3,415,046,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $586,883,000 after buying an additional 8,523,938 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $282,927,000 after purchasing an additional 28,602 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,265,000 after purchasing an additional 875,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,386,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.97.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $64.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,039,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,622,022. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $75.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.13.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.