Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,459 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,906,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,960 shares of the bank’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,783 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 19,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 884,840 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,721,000 after acquiring an additional 381,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 21,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $42.28 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.06 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.22.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced 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. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.