Perpetual Ltd Has $244,000 Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd has reduced its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 49.6%, selling 5,358 shares and now owning 5,449 shares valued at $244,000.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and has initiated a $1.50 billion stock buyback program.
• Analysts have set new price targets for the stock, with Citigroup raising its target to $65.00 and several other firms maintaining or upgrading their ratings, reflecting positive market sentiment.

Perpetual Ltd lowered its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 49.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,449 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,358 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the 1st 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. Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of CFG stock traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $52.58. 3,353,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,983,736. The company has a market cap of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $49.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 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 $53.78.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given 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 yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.35.

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.