Asio Capital LLC Acquires 6,332 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Asio Capital LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 6.1%, acquiring an additional 6,332 shares, bringing its total to 110,211 shares valued at approximately $4.93 million.
• Citizens Financial Group's stock has received multiple **analyst upgrades**, with price targets ranging from $55 to $61, indicating positive outlooks from firms like Evercore ISI and Barclays.
• The company announced a stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $1.50 billion in shares, reflecting confidence in its stock value.

Asio Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,211 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 6,332 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,879 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,342,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.75.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.39 and a 200-day moving average of $44.16. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $54.50.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is 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 issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.

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