Credit Agricole S A Decreases Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A has significantly reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 70.0%, selling nearly 100,000 shares, which leaves it with 42,831 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million.
• Citizens Financial recently exceeded earnings expectations by reporting $0.92 EPS against an estimate of $0.88, along with a revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter.
• The company's Board of Directors has authorized a $1.50 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company's valuation in the market.

Credit Agricole S A lowered its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 70.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,831 shares of the bank's stock after selling 99,928 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 91,560 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,596 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,380,605 shares of the bank's stock worth $425,293,000 after acquiring an additional 697,494 shares during the last quarter. Lee Financial Co bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,017,000. Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 261.4% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 294,899 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,082,000 after acquiring an additional 213,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,703,836 shares of the bank's stock worth $192,716,000 after acquiring an additional 86,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,086,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,742,135. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $52.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $47.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CFG. TD Cowen began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cowen initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.53.

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.