Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Holdings Lifted by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 8.9%, acquiring an additional 554,618 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 1.56%, valued at $278.67 million.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 EPS for the latest quarter, beating analyst expectations, as revenue increased by 3.8% year-over-year to $2.04 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 51.06%.

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,801,856 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 554,618 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 1.56% of Citizens Financial Group worth $278,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 39,766 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the bank's stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Old Port Advisors raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.71. The company had a trading volume of 2,996,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,398,113. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $52.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.11. The firm has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group 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.