Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 10,367 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during Q1, selling 10,367 shares and owning 0.05% of the company worth approximately $9.31 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Citizens Financial Group, with Barclays increasing it to $55.00 and JPMorgan Chase raising it to $52.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock's performance.
• The company has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share and authorized a share buyback plan worth $1.50 billion, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,244 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,367 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Citizens Financial Group worth $9,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,248,000 after buying an additional 8,851 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 21,138 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Argus set a $45.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of CFG opened at $48.31 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.09 and a 200-day moving average of $42.72.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

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

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