Sound Income Strategies LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 50.7%, owning 335,053 shares valued at approximately $15 million.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and showed a 3.8% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.1%, and a buyback program allowing for repurchase of up to $1.5 billion of its shares.

Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 335,053 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 112,654 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC owned about 0.08% of Citizens Financial Group worth $14,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $53.40 on Monday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $53.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.07. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. Research analysts predict 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 announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.35.

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.

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