Ascent Group LLC Reduces Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,677 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,313 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 11.5% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,977,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 96,350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,497,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on 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, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.20.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CFG opened at $40.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.08. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $43.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.39.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.