Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 916,760 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 48.9%, acquiring an additional 916,760 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 2.79 million shares valued at $114.3 million.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a $0.42 quarterly dividend and a stock buyback plan allowing repurchases of up to $1.5 billion in shares, indicating confidence in the stock's current valuation.
• Recent analyst reports show a range of price target adjustments, with Citigroup raising its target to $60.00, while the average price target across firms sits at $51.53, suggesting a generally positive outlook on the stock.

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 48.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,790,291 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 916,760 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.64% of Citizens Financial Group worth $114,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth $108,864,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,204 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $51,486,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CFG. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $47.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.78. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $49.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $45.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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