Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 352,845 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 53.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,019,011 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 352,845 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.24% of Citizens Financial Group worth $61,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,289,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,982,532,000 after purchasing an additional 614,181 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,279,270,000 after purchasing an additional 393,158 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $467,389,000 after buying an additional 1,953,372 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.5%

CFG stock opened at $70.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.23. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.33 and a fifty-two week high of $71.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.36.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.