First Hawaiian Bank Trims Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank reduced its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 37.9%, owning 18,752 shares worth approximately $768,000 after selling 11,439 shares.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes, with Fuller & Thaler Asset Management raising theirs by 7.2% and AQR Capital Management by 19.1% during the first quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group declared a $0.42 quarterly dividend with a 3.2% yield and has authorized a stock buyback program of $1.50 billion to repurchase up to 8.5% of its shares.

First Hawaiian Bank decreased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 37.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,752 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,439 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,380,605 shares of the bank's stock valued at $425,293,000 after buying an additional 697,494 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank's stock valued at $294,007,000 after buying an additional 1,180,390 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,801,856 shares of the bank's stock valued at $278,672,000 after buying an additional 554,618 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,730,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $193,782,000 after buying an additional 41,704 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,703,836 shares of the bank's stock valued at $192,716,000 after buying an additional 86,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CFG. Barclays increased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $51.82 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $49.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.33. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. 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 buyback program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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