Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 179,975 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 9.9%, holding approximately 1.65 million shares valued at $67.45 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 51.06%.
• Citizens Financial Group reported earnings per share of $0.92 for the last quarter, exceeding the estimated $0.88, and a revenue increase of 3.8% year-over-year.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,646,208 shares of the bank's stock after selling 179,975 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.38% of Citizens Financial Group worth $67,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,248,000 after buying an additional 8,851 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 21,138 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.14 on Monday, reaching $52.30. 2,616,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,712,555. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average of $42.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $52.53.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted 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, July 18th. Cowen initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.