Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. Acquires 36,275 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 126.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,875 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 36,275 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group accounts for about 1.4% of Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $223,386,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 145,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,187,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $95,642,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 145.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 773,677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,330,000 after buying an additional 458,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,164,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $75.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.67.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.79.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.