Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,460 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $175,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $174,108,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $69.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.96 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The company has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

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.