Morningstar Investment Management LLC Makes New $348,000 Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,772 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 3.0%

CFG stock opened at $51.75 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CFG. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $62.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.86.

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.