Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 12,698 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,768 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,698 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 207.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,272,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $339,733,000 after acquiring an additional 5,579,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,060,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,144 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,483,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,644,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,897,000 after buying an additional 894,322 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,543,207 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,051,000 after buying an additional 839,041 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE CFG opened at $42.30 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.06 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.13.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 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.