Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,072 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,561 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $8,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540,392 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,775,000 after acquiring an additional 241,869 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,203,831 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,392,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,751 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.7% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,594,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,732,000 after purchasing an additional 621,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CFG. TheStreet upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.88.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

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

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.3 %

CFG stock opened at $33.14 on Monday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $36.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.46.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.02%.

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.