LPL Financial LLC Has $16.63 Million Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.4%, owning 405,797 shares now valued at approximately $16.63 million.
• Citizens Financial Group reported earnings per share of $0.92 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue up 3.8% year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share and approved a stock repurchase plan worth $1.5 billion, indicating management's belief in the stock's value.

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 405,797 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 13,380 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.09% of Citizens Financial Group worth $16,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salzhauer Michael lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,034.7% in the 4th quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 179,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,846,000 after buying an additional 163,500 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,043,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 8,942 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the bank's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. DA Davidson raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Argus set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE CFG traded up $0.65 on Friday, reaching $47.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,139,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,869,631. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $49.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.74. The company has a market capitalization of $20.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.