Optas LLC Buys Shares of 4,659 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Optas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,659 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $249,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 134,855 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after buying an additional 6,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,429,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 74,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,064,000 after buying an additional 19,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 91,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,751,000 after buying an additional 4,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted 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. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Nine equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $47.02 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.46. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.24 and a 12 month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

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.