AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Lowers Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lessened its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 957,259 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 36,811 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $57,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CFG shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.88.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG opened at $67.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.37 and a twelve month high of $68.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.79. The firm has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.68.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.50%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.