Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,479,479 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 374,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.25% of Citizens Financial Group worth $337,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,959,000. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,296,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,970,000 after buying an additional 431,624 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 199,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,603,000 after acquiring an additional 79,247 shares during the period. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,222.9% during the 3rd quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,163,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.73.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE CFG traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.89. 1,048,058 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,584,839. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $36.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.