Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Purchases New Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 202,099 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $14,161,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $355,909,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,234,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CFG shares. Stephens lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $69.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.62. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.96 and a twelve month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

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.