Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 18,747 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 56.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,981 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,747 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.0 %

CFG opened at $47.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released 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. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Compass Point upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.