Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Buys Shares of 5,314 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,314 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $53.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.60 and its 200 day moving average is $44.37. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $54.50. The firm has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.95.

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.