Forsta AP Fonden Sells 23,000 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.4%, now holding 95,700 shares valued at approximately $3.92 million.
• The company reported earnings of $0.92 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.
• A recent share buyback program allows Citizens Financial Group to repurchase up to $1.50 billion in outstanding shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Forsta AP Fonden cut its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,700 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,000 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth about $108,864,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,672,204 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $270,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $55,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,486,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, TD Cowen started 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 target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.31. 2,961,659 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,489,217. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $49.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.75. The company has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

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

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.