Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,034,949 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 744,489 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.95% of Citizens Financial Group worth $241,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Citizens Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.05.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.1%

CFG opened at $71.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.29. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.90 and a 1-year high of $74.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted 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. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.