Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 19,077 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,925 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,077 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $292,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 8,242 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 21.0% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CFG. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $41.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.06 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.45%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.