First Trust Advisors LP Sells 186,779 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,327,479 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 186,779 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.31% of Citizens Financial Group worth $70,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $308,946,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth $253,423,000. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $93,361,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,492,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $60,434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.95.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.0%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $58.87 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $68.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 15.19%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 47.55%.

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.