Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Shares Purchased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 98,014 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,185 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,060,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,144 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 207.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,272,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $339,733,000 after acquiring an additional 5,579,313 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $217,781,000 after purchasing an additional 805,758 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,144,635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,150,000 after purchasing an additional 334,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CFG opened at $47.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.24 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.71.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CFG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.78.

Citizens Financial Group 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.