Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 37,918 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,657,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,415,046,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after buying an additional 32,264 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after buying an additional 298,779 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,389,000 after buying an additional 1,953,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $69.74 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.46 and its 200-day moving average is $65.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

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.