Axa S.A. Purchases 23,112 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Axa S.A. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 88.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,288 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,112 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 17,386 shares of the bank’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 227,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,976,000 after acquiring an additional 77,969 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 259,937 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,375,000 after acquiring an additional 9,655 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $323,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,536 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $39.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.17. The company has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus set a $45.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.18.

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.