Truist Financial Corp Decreases Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.7%, selling 5,446 shares and bringing its total holdings to 142,120 shares valued at approximately $6.36 million.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in Citizens Financial Group, including Grove Bank & Trust, which raised its holdings by 97.1% in the first quarter.
• Citizens Financial Group reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' expectations with $0.92 EPS and $2.04 billion in revenue, alongside a recent quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, which reflects an annual yield of 3.1%.

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,120 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,446 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $6,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.70.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $54.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 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 $55.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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