Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Optas LLC Grows Position

Optas LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 164.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,414 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,716 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 145,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,187,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $223,386,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $95,642,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15,615.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 19,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after buying an additional 19,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 145.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 773,677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,330,000 after buying an additional 458,698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,251,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,773,208. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.44 and its 200 day moving average is $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $81.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group 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.