AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC Sells 31,401 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 8th, 2023

AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,618 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,401 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,843,164 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $886,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,695 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $861,383,000 after acquiring an additional 8,203,831 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,191,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $507,304,000 after acquiring an additional 50,382 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 18.1% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,174,475 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,994 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,457,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,795,000 after purchasing an additional 660,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wedbush downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin Cummings sold 90,689 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $3,899,627.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 455,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,598,927. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $38.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.89 and its 200-day moving average is $39.52. The stock has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.37. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $50.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 11.24%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.15 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Citizens Financial Group

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking segments. The Consumer Banking segment includes deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending, student loans, auto financing, credit cards, business loans, and wealth management and investment services.