Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC Makes New $2.75 Million Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 47,100 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $7,528,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 25.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 687,602 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,553,000 after buying an additional 140,641 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 33.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 135,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,188,000 after buying an additional 33,923 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 504,595 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,968,000 after buying an additional 25,180 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $2,412,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, New Street Research set a $73.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.88.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock opened at $62.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.43. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.80 and a 52-week high of $68.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

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.