Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Sowell Financial Services LLC Increases Holdings

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 2,887.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 178,604 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,626 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $11,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 55 North Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the bank’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 56,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,946,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Trustmark Bank Trust Department boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 4,278 shares of the bank’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 29.9% in the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 883 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 64,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,757,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens reduced their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $64.25 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.16. The firm has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.72. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.85%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.