Ascent Group LLC Sells 1,016 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Ascent Group LLC reduced its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,661 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,016 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.47.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $47.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.07. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.97 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.34.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.14%.

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.