B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 16,452 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,038 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 16,452 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 7,119 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,430,000 after purchasing an additional 367,439 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank's stock worth $217,781,000 after purchasing an additional 805,758 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 5.4 %

CFG stock traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.28. 8,826,677 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,713,028. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.06 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.78 and a 200-day moving average of $44.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.06.

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.