Equity Investment Corp Acquires New Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,662 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,430,000 after acquiring an additional 367,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CFG. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $44.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.48 and a 12 month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

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.