Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) to Issue $0.42 Quarterly Dividend

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the bank on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%.

Citizens Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.5% annually over the last three years. Citizens Financial Group has a payout ratio of 41.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Citizens Financial Group to earn $4.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.8%.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CFG stock opened at $33.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.38. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $36.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kinneret Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 13,296 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 5.6% in the first quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.6% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 37,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.88.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.