Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,876 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 58,432 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 359,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,710,000 after purchasing an additional 44,100 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 73,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 19,077 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $56,483,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Compass Point raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.22.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.5 %

CFG opened at $40.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.06 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.46 and a 200 day moving average of $44.18.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS 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 return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

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.