M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,947 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,409 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,900,115 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,570,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,838 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,929,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $477,043,000 after purchasing an additional 124,860 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank’s stock worth $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank’s stock worth $423,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,204 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,247,238 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,378,000 after buying an additional 374,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $47.89 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued 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. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus set a $45.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.32.

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.