AIA Group Ltd Purchases 6,384 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 26.7%, bringing its total ownership to 30,316 shares valued at approximately $1.24 million.
• Citizens Financial Group declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.6%.
• The stock has seen a positive rating shift, with four analysts giving a "hold" rating, fourteen a "buy", and one analyst a "strong buy", resulting in an average price target of $51.53.

AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,316 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 6,384 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CFG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth $108,864,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $423,733,000 after buying an additional 1,672,204 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $270,715,000 after buying an additional 1,507,536 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,209,000 after buying an additional 1,335,577 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $51,486,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE CFG traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.31. 2,961,659 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,489,217. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $49.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.53.

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.