Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 10,411 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 41.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,457 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,411 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lynx Investment Advisory raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 8,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.95.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CFG opened at $53.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.37. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $54.50. The company has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.