Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Shares Sold by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC lessened its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 84.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,761 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,435 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,465,824 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $117,372,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,642 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 35,157,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,165,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.67.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $213,219.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $35.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $37.30.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.87%.

Citizens Financial Group 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.