Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.41 Million Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,457 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $213,219.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CFG shares. Barclays downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush lowered their target price 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, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.93.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.2 %

CFG stock opened at $34.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $36.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

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.