Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires Shares of 135,035 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 135,035 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,462,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 323 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% in 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. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $74.72 on Monday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $74.86. The stock has a market cap of $31.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.28. 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 (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 39.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Friday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.