14,482 Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,482 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,431,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,204 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,536 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.89.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.52. The stock had a trading volume of 7,484,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,827,590. The firm has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.12. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. Research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.33%.

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

Citizens Financial Group 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.