Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Increases Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 37.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,716 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,884 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 8,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $49.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.82. The company has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CFG. Morgan Stanley upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.86.

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.