Korea Investment CORP Invests $66.15 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 944,042 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $66,149,000. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.22% of Citizens Financial Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $175,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $174,108,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $69.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $47.96 and a one year high of $75.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.