ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $4.84 Million Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,219 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,085 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,380,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $425,293,000 after buying an additional 697,494 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,007,000 after buying an additional 1,180,390 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,801,856 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,672,000 after buying an additional 554,618 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,730,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $193,782,000 after buying an additional 41,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,703,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $192,716,000 after buying an additional 86,237 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CFG. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.70.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $53.86 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $54.50. The firm has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.68 and a 200-day moving average of $44.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

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.