Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 50,525 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,674,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 129,930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 3,844 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 315,504 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,456,000 after buying an additional 10,579 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 42,571 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 23,405 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 105,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CFG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.73.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $35.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $36.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.47. The company has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.