Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 39,925 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.5%, now owning approximately 1.11 million shares valued at $45.49 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded the stock rating for Citizens Financial Group, with JPMorgan Chase raising the target price from $48.50 to $52.00, indicating positive sentiment in the market.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.5%, and authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $1.5 billion.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,110,778 shares of the bank's stock after selling 39,925 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.25% of Citizens Financial Group worth $45,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salzhauer Michael raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1,034.7% during the 4th quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 179,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,846,000 after acquiring an additional 163,500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,660,164 shares of the bank's stock worth $72,649,000 after purchasing an additional 109,335 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 123,002 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

CFG stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $48.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 839,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,802,098. The company has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. 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 12 month low of $32.60 and a 12 month high of $49.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.68.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. 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 3.5%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

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.