EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,392 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,392 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 10,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 19,694 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the bank’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 7,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Stephens upped their price objective on 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Argus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock 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 market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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