LSV Asset Management Reduces Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.8% and now owns approximately 5.73 million shares, valued at around $234.73 million.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Citizens Financial Group, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering it to $44.00 while TD Cowen initiated coverage with a target of $57.00.
• The company announced a $1.50 billion share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.6%.

LSV Asset Management reduced its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,729,392 shares of the bank's stock after selling 166,697 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 1.31% of Citizens Financial Group worth $234,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CFG traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.79. 5,798,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,702,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $49.98. The company has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CFG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $45.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Cowen started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.