Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 41,146 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 41,146 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $6,133,000 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 the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,289,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,982,532,000 after acquiring an additional 614,181 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,279,270,000 after acquiring an additional 393,158 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,220,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $423,222,000 after purchasing an additional 505,614 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,574,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $384,029,000 after purchasing an additional 763,098 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,047,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $321,534,000 after purchasing an additional 138,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $64.19 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.44 and a 12-month high of $68.79. The company has a market cap of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 43.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total value of $769,494.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.