Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,413 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1,656.0% in the third quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 878 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 273.6% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,416 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $30.86 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.72 and a 1 year high of $50.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.82 and its 200 day moving average is $39.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 22.86%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.15 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin Cummings sold 81,151 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $3,603,104.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,237,031.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 5th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.17.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking segments. The Consumer Banking segment includes deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending, student loans, auto financing, credit cards, business loans, and wealth management and investment services.