New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 16,010 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,265 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,010 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $861,383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,203,831 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $192,928,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,392 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 320.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,436,056 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.25.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.29. 364,220 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,851,189. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.27. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.37 and a 1-year high of $44.82. The company has a market cap of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 20.41% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 38.18%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.