Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Holdings Raised by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 196.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,868 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 16,469 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CFG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,431,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank's stock worth $462,547,000 after buying an additional 2,298,040 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock worth $423,733,000 after buying an additional 1,672,204 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock worth $270,715,000 after buying an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $56,483,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $58.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.89.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.70. The stock had a trading volume of 6,122,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,829,145. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 53.33%.

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.