Saun Bruce Van Sells 129,369 Shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $71.39 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.90 and a 12-month high of $74.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.67. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.05.

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.