Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 51,855 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 44,378 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 30.9% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,345 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 5,037 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 405,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,626,000 after buying an additional 13,380 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 1,952 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $54.19 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.17%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.57.

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.