Invesco Ltd. Sells 807,499 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group, selling 807,499 shares, resulting in ownership of approximately 23.39 million shares which represents 5.35% of the company.
• Citizens Financial Group recently reported a quarterly earnings of $0.92 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.8%.
• The company has initiated a stock buyback program authorizing up to $1.50 billion to repurchase up to 8.5% of its outstanding shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,388,034 shares of the bank's stock after selling 807,499 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 5.35% of Citizens Financial Group worth $958,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Salzhauer Michael grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1,034.7% during the 4th quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 179,301 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,846,000 after buying an additional 163,500 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 594,583 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,019,000 after purchasing an additional 8,942 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 131,630 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,660,164 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,649,000 after purchasing an additional 109,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 123,002 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:CFG traded up $0.70 on Thursday, hitting $49.25. 3,696,810 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,974,689. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $49.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $45.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.75. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.