Man Group plc Purchases New Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 938,595 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $65,767,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $69.86 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $75.33. The company has a market capitalization of $29.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CFG. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group 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.