Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by WBI Investments LLC

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 30.6%, selling 6,920 shares, and now holds 15,695 shares valued at approximately $643,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Fuller & Thaler Asset Management and AQR Capital Management, have increased their holdings in Citizens Financial Group, with institutional investors collectively owning 94.90% of the company's stock.
• Citizens Financial Group has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing a dividend yield of 3.2%, and has authorized a stock repurchase program totaling $1.50 billion.

WBI Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 30.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,695 shares of the bank's stock after selling 6,920 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,380,605 shares of the bank's stock worth $425,293,000 after purchasing an additional 697,494 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank's stock worth $294,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,390 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,801,856 shares of the bank's stock worth $278,672,000 after purchasing an additional 554,618 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,730,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $193,782,000 after purchasing an additional 41,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,703,836 shares of the bank's stock worth $192,716,000 after purchasing an additional 86,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $51.88 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.26. 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 announced 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 net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date 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 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Citizens Financial Group

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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