Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Makes New $216,000 Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. has made a new investment in Citizens Financial Group, purchasing 4,827 shares valued at approximately $216,000.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio and Fifth Third Bancorp, have increased or established positions in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share and initiated a share buyback program to repurchase up to $1.50 billion of its outstanding shares.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,827 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 280,323 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,259 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,851 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $417,000. Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 22.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,977 shares of the bank's stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,776 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.35.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:CFG opened at $52.90 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $50.19 and its 200-day moving average is $43.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $53.89. The firm has a market cap of $22.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.80.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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