The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 125,466 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,050,406 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 125,466 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.48% of Citizens Financial Group worth $122,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.55.

Insider Activity

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.5%

CFG stock opened at $72.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.22. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.90 and a fifty-two week high of $74.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.