Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Raises Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,830 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group makes up 2.5% of Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 78,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after acquiring an additional 20,649 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 101.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 761,679 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,641,000 after purchasing an additional 383,947 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $1,180,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,965,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $930,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.3 %

CFG stock opened at $40.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $43.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.26. The company has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.08.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CFG. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.