Howard Capital Management Inc. Takes $426,000 Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 9,728 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 22,810 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,177 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE CFG opened at $44.32 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $30.30 and a one year high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.