Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,457 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 28.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,272 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,815 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 336.3% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $236,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 121.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 61,885 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 33,897 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 44.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,548 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 25,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:CFG opened at $34.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.87 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.83. The stock has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.93.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related 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 value of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citizens Financial Group 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.