Empirical Finance LLC Sells 223 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,853 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CFG. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Compass Point upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $47.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.77 and its 200 day moving average is $43.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $30.24 and a one year high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.