First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,785 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CFG. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $40,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler raised Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 note on Thursday, January 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.73.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,704.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $35.57 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.47. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $36.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

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.