Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 62,898 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,812,101 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 62,898 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.12% of Citizens Financial Group worth $255,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,548,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,306,817,000 after acquiring an additional 209,467 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,671,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,059,293,000 after acquiring an additional 283,321 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,715,372 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,430,000 after acquiring an additional 315,467 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 14.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,562,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $293,685,000 after purchasing an additional 833,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $308,946,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $58.07 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.53 and its 200-day moving average is $56.32. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 0.48 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 7.81%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 47.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CFG. DA Davidson increased 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.73.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

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.