Moors & Cabot Inc. Purchases 1,405 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 26.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,705 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth about $108,864,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,577 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,390 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,399,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,684 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 291.5% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,352,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of CFG opened at $51.68 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.87.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 29th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.57.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.