Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 1,920 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 62.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,011 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,372,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,642 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,796,000 after buying an additional 1,105,011 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,669,000 after buying an additional 1,067,971 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $41.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.40. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $43.96.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.