Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by Shell Asset Management Co.

Key Points

• Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 117.3% in Q2, owning over 53,000 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Citizens Financial Group, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target to $71.00 and giving an "overweight" rating.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a share buyback plan authorizing up to $1.50 billion in stock, reflecting the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 117.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,137 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 28,689 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 148,060 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,626,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 108,219 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 7,085 shares during the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,385 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,852 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CFG shares. Raymond James Financial set a $62.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:CFG opened at $52.00 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.70.

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, 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 business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire 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 Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 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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