Equity Investment Corp Invests $210,000 in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,697 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $430,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% during the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.6%

CFG opened at $50.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.61.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.57.

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.