BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6%, selling 62,056 shares, and now owns approximately 0.30% of the bank's stock.
• Citizens Financial Group reported an earnings per share of $0.92 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.88.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.68 and a yield of 3.2%.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,295,145 shares of the bank's stock after selling 62,056 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.30% of Citizens Financial Group worth $53,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cowen started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.23. 1,315,606 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,724,197. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $52.53. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $48.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.06. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

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.