Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $453,000 Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,051 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,858 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,284 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Salzhauer Michael grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,034.7% during the fourth quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 179,301 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,846,000 after buying an additional 163,500 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 7,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 45,479 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $41.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 6.84%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $45.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.89.

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.