Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 59.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,845 shares of the bank's stock after selling 51,059 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,073.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 332,912 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 304,553 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,662 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,521 shares of the bank's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 22,414 shares of the bank's stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 14,256 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.96. The company had a trading volume of 2,068,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,798,484. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm's fifty day moving average is $45.77 and its 200-day moving average is $43.56. The company has a market cap of $21.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

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.