The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 125,466 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 5.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,050,406 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 125,466 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $122,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 82,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,930,000 after buying an additional 37,488 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,333,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,311,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,637,000 after acquiring an additional 292,591 shares during the period. Family Manage LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Saun Bruce Van 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 value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.55.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.5%

CFG opened at $72.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.91 and its 200-day moving average is $64.22. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.90 and a 1-year high of $74.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.