Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys New Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 28,670 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $674,000. Trivium Point Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,746,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $435,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $9,462,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,040,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $74.39 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $31.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.96 and a 1-year high of $75.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.77 and a 200-day moving average of $65.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.05.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.