Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 66.5%, owning 14,188 shares after selling 28,179 shares during the second quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.92, beating analysts' estimates and showing a 3.8% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The firm has declared a share buyback plan worth $1.50 billion which allows repurchase of up to 8.5% of its shares, signaling that management believes the shares are undervalued.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 66.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,188 shares of the bank's stock after selling 28,179 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 71.1% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 19,092 shares of the bank's stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,933 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,158,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,378,632 shares of the bank's stock worth $147,849,000 after purchasing an additional 233,997 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 11,655 shares of the bank's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.35.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $53.47. 340,664 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,699,823. The stock has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $53.85. The firm's 50 day moving average is $49.85 and its 200 day moving average is $43.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS 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 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%. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

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

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.