American Century Companies Inc. Sells 18,033 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 8.1%, selling 18,033 shares and maintaining a total of 205,698 shares valued at approximately $8.43 million.
• Citizens Financial Group recently reported earnings of $0.92 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, while its revenue increased 3.8% year-over-year, totaling $2.04 billion for the quarter.
• The bank's board approved a share repurchase program allowing the reacquisition of up to $1.50 billion worth of shares, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 205,698 shares of the bank's stock after selling 18,033 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $8,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 54,795 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,224,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 107.9% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 317,659 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,827,000 after acquiring an additional 164,845 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,730,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $193,782,000 after acquiring an additional 41,704 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $332,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 154.1% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 101,792 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,170,000 after acquiring an additional 61,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $52.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,616,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,712,555. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average of $42.95. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.53.

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. 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

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.