Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 35,366 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. has increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group (CFG) by 5.8%, now holding 640,631 shares valued at approximately $26.25 million.
• Several analysts have given CFG a strong outlook, with expectations of higher price targets and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" amid recent earnings that exceeded estimates.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a share buyback program of $1.50 billion, indicative of the board's belief that the company's shares are undervalued.

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640,631 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 35,366 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.15% of Citizens Financial Group worth $26,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,977 shares of the bank's stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 155,418 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,801,000 after acquiring an additional 7,823 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,025 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,420 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,490 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 16,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 194.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 224,822 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,838,000 after acquiring an additional 148,431 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CFG traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.82. The stock had a trading volume of 3,733,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,398,912. The company has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

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

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.