Caxton Associates LLP Trims Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Caxton Associates LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 98.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,537 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 205,463 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 504,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,968,000 after buying an additional 25,180 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,799,000 after acquiring an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,914,000 after acquiring an additional 94,774 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,426,000 after acquiring an additional 20,008 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $71.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.90 and a fifty-two week high of $74.70. The stock has a market cap of $30.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.29.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

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.