Groupama Asset Managment Cuts Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Groupama Asset Managment reduced its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 56.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,505 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,780 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CFG. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of 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. Seventeen investment 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.05.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.1%

CFG opened at $71.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.90 and a one year high of $74.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.91%.

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.