Virtu Financial LLC Buys 2,730 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,768 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,177 shares of the bank’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 373,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,340,000 after purchasing an additional 67,241 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $42.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.06 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.01 and a 200-day moving average of $44.14.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.