Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 4,720.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,672,049 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,575,137 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 1.11% of Citizens Financial Group worth $297,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Bayban purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1,334.0% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 304,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,383,000 after purchasing an additional 282,800 shares in the last quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 126.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 64,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,136,000 after buying an additional 36,275 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,532.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 373,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,790,000 after buying an additional 350,270 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,104.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 233,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,871,000 after buying an additional 213,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.65 and a 200 day moving average of $65.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.85%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.