Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Sells 29,986 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lessened its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 34.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,470 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,986 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 35,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,582,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,284,000 after acquiring an additional 129,995 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 856,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,315,000 after purchasing an additional 42,971 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,434,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $60.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.20. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $62.16. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.17%.Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.33.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.