Fisher Asset Management LLC Purchases 43,284 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,362 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 43,284 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $6,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CFG. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $891,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 14.6% during the third quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 93,740 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 11,963 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 82,541 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,388,000 after purchasing an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 28,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,504,000 after buying an additional 14,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,472,000 after buying an additional 17,988 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.73.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $59.47 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.70. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $68.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.55%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.