Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,229,164 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,965 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.26% of Citizens Financial Group worth $40,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,392 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,775,000 after buying an additional 241,869 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $861,383,000 after acquiring an additional 8,203,831 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,785,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,594,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,732,000 after acquiring an additional 621,715 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 3.3 %

CFG stock opened at $33.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.87. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $36.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.29.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company 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.