Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 57.5%, selling 129,244 shares, leaving them with 95,578 shares valued at approximately $3.92 million.
• A share buyback plan was authorized by Citizens Financial Group, allowing the company to repurchase up to $1.50 billion of its outstanding shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• Citizens Financial Group reported a quarterly EPS of $0.92, surpassing analysts' expectations, and declared a dividend of $0.42 per share, reflecting a 3.2% yield.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 57.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,578 shares of the bank's stock after selling 129,244 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $3,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 39,766 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the bank's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.10.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.7%

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.67. The stock had a trading volume of 6,608,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,609,639. The company has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $49.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.55. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $53.76.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

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

About Citizens Financial Group

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.