Gries Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Gries Financial LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,755 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 22,810 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,304 shares of the bank’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,726 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,777 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,177 shares of the bank’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $48.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.24 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.28.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

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.