Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,830 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,373 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $46.76 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.30 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.