Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $447,000 Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,984 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,498 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CFG. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $108,864,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 11,167.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,347,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,209,000 after buying an additional 1,335,577 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,366,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,007,000 after buying an additional 1,180,390 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 291.5% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,352,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,522,000 after buying an additional 1,006,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $38,915,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 target price on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.70.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $53.86 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $54.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.68 and a 200-day moving average of $44.46.

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

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved 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 typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.