Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% during the first quarter, now holding 444,097 shares worth approximately $18.2 million.
• Citizens Financial Group reported a Q2 EPS of $0.92, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.04, alongside a revenue increase of 3.8% year-over-year to $2.04 billion.
• The company has initiated a $1.5 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence from the board in the stock's value, and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share with a yield of 3.3%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 39.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 444,097 shares of the bank's stock after selling 289,803 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Citizens Financial Group worth $18,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

CFG traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,616,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,871,637. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.93. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $52.53.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during 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%.The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CFG. Barclays lifted their price target on 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. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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 note on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.