Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Has $354.87 Million Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.2%, now owning 8,661,636 shares after selling 103,538 shares.
• The bank recently announced a $1.50 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management believes its shares are undervalued.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 earnings per share for the recent quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenues up 3.8% year-over-year.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,661,636 shares of the bank's stock after selling 103,538 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group comprises 1.2% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 1.98% of Citizens Financial Group worth $354,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the first 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 period. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.96. The company had a trading volume of 2,991,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,770,274. 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 capitalization of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.82. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $52.03.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Citizens Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CFG. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.53.

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.