Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 25.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,500 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 10,500 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $2,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Salzhauer Michael boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1,034.7% in the fourth quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 179,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,846,000 after acquiring an additional 163,500 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 179,603 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,957 shares of the bank's stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 85,535 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,743,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.05.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $49.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,224,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,828,709. The firm has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.68.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. The business's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 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.