Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 164,845 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 107.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 317,659 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,845 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $12,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Argus set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE CFG opened at $48.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.69. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.98.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 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%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.