Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Invests $654,000 in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 9,330 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,799,000 after buying an additional 85,052 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,914,000 after buying an additional 94,774 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,426,000 after buying an additional 20,008 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 100,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,877,000 after buying an additional 17,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $70.23 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.96 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.59.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.