Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 13.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,100 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,394 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,886 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,971 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 680.1% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 803,919 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,804,000 after purchasing an additional 700,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,550,000 after purchasing an additional 587,115 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.8 %

CFG stock opened at $42.47 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. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $44.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.09. The company has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

Citizens Financial Group 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.