Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes $95.64 Million Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,364,946 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $95,642,000. Citizens Financial Group makes up approximately 0.6% of Freestone Grove Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 0.32% of Citizens Financial Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 10,466 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 4,739 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 65,564 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

CFG stock opened at $70.48 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.34 and a 200-day moving average of $65.65. The firm has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Stephens raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.25.

Citizens Financial Group 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.