Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 130.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,105,011 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $64,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $431,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,229,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 70,115 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 11,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.73.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,349,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,801,869. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.47. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $37.30. The company has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company 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.