Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Shares Acquired by Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC

Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,828 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 785 shares during the quarter. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,764,211 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,984,777,000 after purchasing an additional 498,557 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 47,431,255 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,629,737,000 after purchasing an additional 787,199 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,089,425 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $896,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,261 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $861,383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,203,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,191,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $507,304,000 after purchasing an additional 50,382 shares in the last quarter. 88.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 4.1 %

NYSE:CFG opened at $31.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.72 and a 1 year high of $50.94.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 22.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.15 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CFG. Barclays upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 1st. DA Davidson began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Wedbush cut Citizens Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, Director Kevin Cummings sold 90,689 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $3,899,627.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,598,927. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking segments. The Consumer Banking segment includes deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending, student loans, auto financing, credit cards, business loans, and wealth management and investment services.