Saun Bruce Van Sells 129,369 Shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG stock traded up $1.81 on Tuesday, reaching $72.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,125,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,971,500. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.13. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.90 and a 1 year high of $74.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballast Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $322,000. Tema ETFs LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 9.4% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 8,425 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.8% in the second quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,631,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.55.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.