Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Increases Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,475 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 21,138 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:CFG opened at $51.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $52.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.37.

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

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

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.