Patton Fund Management Inc. Buys Shares of 152,981 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 152,981 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $6,694,000. Citizens Financial Group comprises approximately 1.3% of Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $145,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 51,981 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 18,747 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 894,642 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,149,000 after purchasing an additional 15,143 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,366 shares of the bank's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $570,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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, Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.66. 3,361,893 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,854,894. The company's fifty day moving average price is $45.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.25. The company has a market cap of $21.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for 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%. Citizens Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.45%.

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.