Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 16,284 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 59.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,750 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,284 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $117,372,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after buying an additional 1,552,333 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after buying an additional 1,212,642 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,796,000 after buying an additional 1,105,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,669,000 after buying an additional 1,067,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.9 %

CFG opened at $43.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.08. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $43.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 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 the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid 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 3.90%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.