Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.42 (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.42 per share by the bank on Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st.

Citizens Financial Group has a payout ratio of 34.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Citizens Financial Group to earn $4.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.7%.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.4%

Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.61. 9,470,067 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,842,718. The business's 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its 200 day moving average is $42.42. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.68. The company has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CFG. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Argus set a $45.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 10,466 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.