ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 35,599 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,710 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 35,599 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,749,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,392 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,775,000 after acquiring an additional 241,869 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $861,383,000 after acquiring an additional 8,203,831 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,392,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,594,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,732,000 after acquiring an additional 621,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.29.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.99. 7,999,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,923,239. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.33 and its 200-day moving average is $30.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $36.38. The company has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.