Junto Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 949,837 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Junto Capital Management LP has acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, purchasing 949,837 shares valued at approximately $38.9 million, representing 0.22% ownership at the end of the last quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a share buyback plan allowing the company to reacquire up to $1.5 billion worth of shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The bank reported an EPS of $0.92 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue rose by 3.8% year-over-year, totaling $2.04 billion.

Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 949,837 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $38,915,000. Junto Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.22% of Citizens Financial Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 21,138 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $52.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 833,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,721,253. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $48.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.06. The company has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.53.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.