Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 61,942 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 717,542 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 61,942 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $31,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 108,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,722,000 after acquiring an additional 16,452 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank’s stock worth $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 518,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,687,000 after purchasing an additional 45,469 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 591,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,771,000 after buying an additional 45,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 43,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 4,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 5.4 %

NYSE CFG opened at $34.28 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.06 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Compass Point lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.06.

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.