Swedbank AB Increases Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,182 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,745 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $15,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 207.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,272,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $339,733,000 after buying an additional 5,579,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,060,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,144 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,043,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,933,000 after acquiring an additional 942,662 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,644,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,897,000 after purchasing an additional 894,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,511,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,063,000 after purchasing an additional 838,917 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of CFG opened at $47.40 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.24 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 3.54%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.