Ransom Advisory Ltd Purchases Shares of 23,850 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd has acquired 23,850 shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. valued at approximately $977,000, indicating growing interest in the bank among institutional investors.
• Analysts have generally upgraded their ratings on Citizens Financial Group, with many firms increasing target prices and 14 analysts giving a Buy rating to the stock.
• The bank recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share and initiated a $1.50 billion share repurchase program, reflecting confidence in its valuation.

Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,850 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $977,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth $108,864,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,577 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank's stock worth $294,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,390 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $51,486,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth $38,915,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.82. 3,733,159 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,398,912. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $52.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.