Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 9,405 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 64.1%, selling 9,405 shares during the second quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group's stock has a current market capitalization of $22.92 billion and a recent earnings per share of $0.92, surpassing analysts' estimates.
• The bank's board has authorized a share repurchase program of $1.50 billion, allowing the company to buy back up to 8.5% of its stock.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,264 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,405 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $208,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,879 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,207,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 66.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,532 shares of the bank's stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 64.9% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 42,367 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 16,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $627,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $53.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.65. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.79. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during 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%.Citizens Financial Group's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $62.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.40.

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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