Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Wedbush Securities Inc. Raises Holdings

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 6,919.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,888 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,955 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $13,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth $35,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CFG shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.47.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,803,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,032,498. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.11 and a 200 day moving average of $67.20. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Citizens Financial Group 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.