Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Cuts Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. by 30.5%, now holding 55,490 shares worth approximately $2.27 million.
• Citizens Financial Group recently reported earnings of $0.92 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $2.04 billion for the latest quarter.
• The company's board has authorized a $1.50 billion share buyback, representing plans to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock, suggesting a belief in its undervaluation.

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. reduced its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 30.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,490 shares of the bank's stock after selling 24,340 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group makes up 2.0% of Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,248,000 after buying an additional 8,851 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised 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 report on Friday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $51.37 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.82. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group 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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