Wolverine Asset Management LLC Has $2.25 Million Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. by 34.4%, owning 54,979 shares worth approximately $2.25 million after purchasing 14,058 additional shares in Q1.
• Citizens Financial Group's stock rose 1.4%, opening at $47.29, with a market cap of $20.40 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.37.
• The company recently announced a $1.50 billion stock buyback program and will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.6%.

Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 34.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,979 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 14,058 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 59.5% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 436,042 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,864,000 after purchasing an additional 162,669 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 813,233 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,318,000 after acquiring an additional 83,055 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 236.1% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the bank's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,487.3% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 295,954 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,125,000 after acquiring an additional 277,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 48.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,790,291 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,318,000 after acquiring an additional 916,760 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CFG. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Argus set a $45.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.7%

CFG stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $46.94. 3,410,798 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,275,777. 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 $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $45.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.66. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $49.98.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend 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.