Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC Takes Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,971 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,380,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $425,293,000 after buying an additional 697,494 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,247,238 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,378,000 after acquiring an additional 374,850 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,730,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $193,782,000 after acquiring an additional 41,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,703,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,716,000 after acquiring an additional 86,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $48.8180 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.77. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $49.98.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.