IFM Investors Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7.5% during the second quarter, now holding 103,452 shares worth approximately $4.63 million.
• The bank reported earnings of $0.92 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.88, with a revenue increase of 3.8% year-over-year.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, yielding 3.1% annually, and initiated a $1.50 billion share repurchase program.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,452 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 7,185 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 697,494 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank's stock worth $294,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,390 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in 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 raised its position 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 worth $192,716,000 after acquiring an additional 86,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.58. 3,353,620 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,983,736. The business's fifty day moving average price is $49.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $53.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for 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%.Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. 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 is 51.06%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CFG. DA Davidson increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given 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 $52.35.

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.