Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 655,600 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 29,940 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Citizens Financial Group worth $28,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.3% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,954 shares of the bank's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,862 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the bank's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $391,000. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $270,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CFG traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $42.45. 5,508,942 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,165,107. The stock has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.92 and a 200-day moving average of $41.18.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 66.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight equities 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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.