6,500 Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Bought by Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Key Points

• Arrowpoint Investment Partners acquired 6,500 shares of Citizens Financial Group, valued at approximately $266,000, during the first quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.92, exceeding analyst estimates, and had a revenue increase of 3.8% compared to the previous year.
• The company has approved a stock buyback plan allowing it to repurchase up to $1.50 billion in outstanding shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,500 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 116,921 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,790,000 after acquiring an additional 2,617 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 30,316 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 6,384 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,930,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,858 shares of the bank's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,027,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CFG. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Argus set a $45.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.31. 2,961,659 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,489,217. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

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.