Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes $7.60 Million Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 185,070 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $7,601,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,177 shares of the bank's stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,344 shares of the bank's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 11,395 shares of the bank's stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 88,829 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,648,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CFG traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.03. 2,616,730 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,181,982. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.08. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.77 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.03 and a 200 day moving average of $40.49.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.27.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.