Voya Investment Management LLC Acquires 9,557 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,374 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,557 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $5,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 71.1% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 19,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 7,933 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,158,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,378,632 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $147,849,000 after buying an additional 233,997 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 9,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. Barclays boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.10.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $53.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.55. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $53.76.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.