Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Decreases Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 10.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 341,784 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 40,201 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $20,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,279,270,000 after buying an additional 393,158 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after acquiring an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after acquiring an additional 298,779 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.7%

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.36. 3,690,539 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,578,129. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.90 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.35.

Citizens Financial Group 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.