Voya Investment Management LLC Has $5.59 Million Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7.5%, acquiring an additional 9,557 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 136,374 shares valued at approximately $5.59 million.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 EPS for the recent quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.88, along with a revenue of $2.04 billion, up 3.8% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42, yielding 3.1%, and approved a $1.5 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company’s stock value.

Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 136,374 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 9,557 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $5,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased 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 purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% in the first 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 acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.97 on Monday, reaching $52.58. 3,353,620 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,983,736. The company has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.80. 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 one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $53.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.85 and a 200 day moving average of $43.70.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.