Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Holdings Lowered by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,229,164 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,965 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $40,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,959,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,296,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,970,000 after buying an additional 431,624 shares in the last quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3,222.9% during the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,163,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,000 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 280,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,373,000 after acquiring an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $33.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $36.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid 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 4.94%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.29.

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.