Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Position Lifted by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.1%, owning 7,366,754 shares worth approximately $294 million after purchasing an additional 1.18 million shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Citizens Financial Group, with UBS lifting it from $50 to $53 and Barclays from $49 to $55, reflecting overall positive sentiment towards the stock.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 and initiated a $1.50 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock value.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,366,754 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,180,390 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.69% of Citizens Financial Group worth $294,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $108,864,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,577 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $51,486,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $38,915,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 48.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,790,291 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,318,000 after purchasing an additional 916,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.3%

CFG traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $51.56. 1,199,025 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,702,170. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $52.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80.

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 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 net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. Citizens Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.