SEB Asset Management AB Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 86,682 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,198,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after acquiring an additional 298,779 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953,372 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,574,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $384,029,000 after acquiring an additional 763,098 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $72.44 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.90 and a 12-month high of $74.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.05 and a 200 day moving average of $63.91.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $68.50 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.55.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.