ING Groep NV Trims Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 59.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,184 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 33,685 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE CFG opened at $46.78 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.45. The stock has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.13 and a 12-month high of $48.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

Citizens Financial Group 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.