Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $5.63 Million Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 88,373 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,635,000. Citizens Financial Group accounts for 0.4% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $3,415,046,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $223,386,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $207,234,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $188,380,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $175,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG traded down $0.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.10. 1,291,825 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,583,724. The company has a market cap of $26.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.97. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $75.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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 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 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branches, digital channels and other delivery platforms.

The company’s consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lending, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Through its commercial banking operations, Citizens provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, capital markets services and other solutions for companies and institutional clients.