Asio Capital LLC Purchases 1,272 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Asio Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,250 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the quarter. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,333 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,580,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,106,000 after acquiring an additional 113,300 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,550,000 after acquiring an additional 587,115 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,625,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,722,000 after purchasing an additional 480,129 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.07.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $42.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $43.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.81.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.12%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.