Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,015,624 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,833 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Citizens Financial Group worth $44,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,430,000 after purchasing an additional 367,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,910,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of CFG stock opened at $47.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $30.24 and a one year high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued 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 3.55%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CFG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens restated 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.