Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,812 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $421,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $2,196,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,779 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 658.3% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 10,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,906,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $45.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.89.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $41.02 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.31. The firm has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase 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 shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.