Comerica Bank Has $10.45 Million Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9%, now owning approximately 255,001 shares worth about $10.4 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Citizens Financial Group, with notable increases from Raymond James to $57.00 and Citigroup to $60.00, indicating a positive outlook on the stock.
• Citizens Financial Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 with a dividend yield of 3.3% and announced a stock buyback program worth $1.5 billion, demonstrating confidence in its valuation.

Comerica Bank decreased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 255,001 shares of the bank's stock after selling 4,936 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.06% of Citizens Financial Group worth $10,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 21,138 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% during the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the bank's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG traded up $0.14 on Monday, reaching $52.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,616,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,712,555. The company has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $52.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average of $42.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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 issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays increased 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 note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

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.