GW&K Investment Management LLC Boosts Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 69,665.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 726,961 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 725,919 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Citizens Financial Group worth $29,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,355,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,915,708. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.76. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $49.98. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The company 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%. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.05.

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.