Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Position

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,105,362 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 28,272 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Citizens Financial Group worth $70,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $775,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014,785 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,883,000 after purchasing an additional 8,523,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $282,927,000 after purchasing an additional 28,602 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,265,000 after purchasing an additional 875,666 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE CFG opened at $64.31 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $75.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.58.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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 consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.