Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 587,115 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 15.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 587,115 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.97% of Citizens Financial Group worth $159,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,015.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 10,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 9,315 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 606,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,845,000 after acquiring an additional 17,755 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $240,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 31,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.11. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.77 and a 52 week high of $43.96. The stock has a market cap of $18.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.08.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

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.