Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 45.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,078 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,322 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Investors Research Corp grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 16,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% during the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $55.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.66. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $56.05. The stock has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 29th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $56.57.

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.