Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Position Raised by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 262.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 950,535 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 688,217 shares during the quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. owned 0.23% of Citizens Financial Group worth $60,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.1% in the third quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 31,274.7% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 293,040 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,684,000 after purchasing an additional 292,106 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4,720.9% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,672,049 shares of the bank’s stock worth $297,890,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575,137 shares during the last quarter. Bayban bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1,334.0% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 304,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,383,000 after purchasing an additional 282,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $64.95 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.00 and a 1-year 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 fifty day simple moving average of $65.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CFG. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $81.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.79.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.