WBI Investments LLC Buys 834 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

WBI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,934 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $213,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,465,824 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $117,372,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,642 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 35,157,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,165,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CFG. StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG traded up $1.48 on Thursday, reaching $38.16. 4,112,544 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,312,985. The firm has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.96. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.77 and a fifty-two week high of $38.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Citizens Financial Group 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.