Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock Position Lifted by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 561.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,910 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 10,110 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,415,046,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the first 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 boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,265,000 after purchasing an additional 875,666 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $223,386,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $207,234,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.38.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.54 on Tuesday, reaching $63.36. 3,757,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,596,787. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.96 and a 1-year high of $75.33. The company has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.97.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

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 individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branches, digital channels and other delivery platforms.

The company’s consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lending, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Through its commercial banking operations, Citizens provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, capital markets services and other solutions for companies and institutional clients.