Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. sold 51,063 shares of Citizens Financial Group, reducing its holdings by 43.2%, leaving it with 67,087 shares valued at approximately $3 million.
• Citizens Financial reported a net margin of 13.26% and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.92 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.88.
• The bank's board has authorized a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating that it believes its shares are undervalued.

Patton Fund Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 43.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,087 shares of the bank's stock after selling 51,063 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Investors Research Corp raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.35.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $53.40 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $53.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.02. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 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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