792,550 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1,253.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 855,803 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 792,550 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $54,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $775,663,000 after buying an additional 12,014,785 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,883,000 after acquiring an additional 8,523,938 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4,682.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,285,906 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $209,509,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217,195 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $223,386,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $64.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.65. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week high of $75.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 41.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $81.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore set a $74.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.