Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Invests $1.28 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. has acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, buying 28,499 shares valued at approximately $1,275,000 in the 2nd quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.92 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $0.88 and showing a 3.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has initiated a stock buyback program allowing for repurchases of up to $1.50 billion of its stock, indicating the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 28,499 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,275,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Investors Research Corp grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE CFG traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.56. 9,097,700 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,795,203. The business's 50 day moving average is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average is $43.62. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $53.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.80. 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 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 firm'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 posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CFG. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.35.

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.