Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $3 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 42,761 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,996,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after buying an additional 2,799,050 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $175,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $174,108,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $69.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.96 and a 12 month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.