Prospera Financial Services Inc Invests $138,000 in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,039 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,095,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,374,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009,500 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,140,964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $526,411,000 after purchasing an additional 69,440 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $510,236,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $229,205,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,722.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,879,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $183,295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,666,412 shares in the last quarter. 94.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CFG opened at $36.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.28 and a 200 day moving average of $43.32. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.35 and a fifty-two week high of $57.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.35). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 25.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.53%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, June 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CFG. Wedbush increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group to $47.00 in a report on Friday, July 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association 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.

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