Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires 368,538 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 353.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 472,764 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 368,538 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $21,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 30.9% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,345 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 5,037 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 405,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 13,380 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,139 shares of the bank’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.57.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $54.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.82. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $55.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 29th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 29th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.54%.

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.