Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 839 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $6,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 697,494 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,390 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 8.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,801,856 shares of the bank’s stock worth $278,672,000 after acquiring an additional 554,618 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $51.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 3.3%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CFG shares. Barclays boosted 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 research report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

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.