ICONIQ Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 5,385 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• ICONIQ Capital LLC has acquired 5,385 shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. valued at approximately $221,000, marking their new position in the bank's stock during the first quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group has received multiple upgrades from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.53, reflecting positive market sentiment.
• The bank's board has approved a $1.50 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in the company’s valuation, alongside a recent quarterly dividend yield of 3.3%.

ICONIQ Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,385 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 697,494 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,247,238 shares of the bank's stock worth $273,378,000 after purchasing an additional 374,850 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the 4th 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

CFG opened at $50.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.06 and a 200-day moving average of $42.76. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $50.88. The company has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 51.06%.

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.

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