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  • California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

    California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

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    California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 868,454 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 63,082 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.19% of Citizens Financial Group worth $28,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

    Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Highlander Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 22.0% during the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

    Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

    In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

    Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

    A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Piper Sandler raised Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com cut Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Argus boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.13.

    View Our Latest Report on CFG

    Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

    Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $35.15 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $36.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.68 and a 200-day moving average of $30.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.38.

    Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

    Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

    The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.87%.

    Citizens Financial Group Profile

    (Free Report)

    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.

    Featured Articles

    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CFG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG)

    Receive News & Ratings for Citizens Financial Group Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Citizens Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.

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  • Fed stress tests see large banks able to handle recession and slide in commercial real estate prices

    Fed stress tests see large banks able to handle recession and slide in commercial real estate prices

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    The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that all 23 banks in this year’s stress tests withstood a hypothetical “severe” global recession and losses of up to $541 billion as well as a 40% decline in commercial real estate prices.

    The banks in the 2023 stress tests hold about 20% of the office and downtown commercial real estate loans held by banks and should be able to handle office space weakness that has loomed amid slack demand for space in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The projected decline in commercial real estate prices, combined with
    the substantial increase in office vacancies, contributes to projected loss rates on office properties that are roughly triple the levels reached during the 2008 financial crisis,” the Fed said in a prepared statement.

    Also read: FDIC studying plan to include smaller U.S. banks in Basel III capital requirements after failures in early 2023

    Fed vice chair of supervision Michael S. Barr said the exams confirm that the U.S. banking system remains resilient, even in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank earlier this year.

    Barr also alluded to comments he made last week when he said the Fed should consider a wider range of risks that could derail banks in a process he described as reverse stress tests.

    “We should remain humble about how risks can arise and continue our
    work to ensure that banks are resilient to a range of economic scenarios, market shocks, and other stresses,” Barr said in a prepared statement.

    The bank stress tests are closely watched because they help determine what capital banks have left over for stock buybacks and dividends. However, expectations are not particularly high at the current time for any huge payouts to investors given talk by regulators about high capital requirements tied to Basel III international banking laws, as well as a challenging economic environment with interest rates on the rise in an attempt to cool economic activity and tame inflation.

    Senior Fed officials said banks will be clear to provide updates on their stock buybacks and dividends after the market close on Friday.

    For the first time, the Fed conducted an “exploratory market shock” on the trading books of the U.S.’s eight largest banks including greater inflationary pressures and rising interest rates.

    The results showed that the largest banks’ trading books were resilient to the rising rate environment tested. That group included Bank of America Corp., the Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup Inc., the Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. , Morgan Stanley , State Street Corp, and Wells Fargo & Co.

    Senior federal officials said they’re studying a wider application of the exploratory market shock to other banks.

    In last year’s tests, the Fed did not place an emphasis on a rapid rise in interest rates partly because expectations were high for a recession with lower interest rates in 2023. Instead, interest rates rose. That market dynamic was a factor in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which sold securities with lower interest rates at a loss to cover an increase in withdrawals, only to spark a run on the bank.

    All told, the Fed said the 23 banks in the stress test managed to maintain their capital requirements even with a projected $541 billion in losses. (See breakdown below).


    U.S. Federal Reserve chart

    Under the most severe stress, the aggregate common equity risk-based capital ratio would decline by 2.3% to a minimum of 10.1%.

    Other facets of the hypothetical recession included a “substantial” increase in office vacancies, a 38% reduction in house prices and a 6.4% increase in U.S. unemployment to a high of 10%. The drop in house prices in this year’s stress tests is worse than the decline in the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.

    “The results looked pretty good,” said Maclyn Clouse, a professor of finance at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. “The banks were in pretty good shape from a capital standpoint and they’d be able to withstand some shock. It’s good news.”

    Barr’s remark on Fed officials being “humble” reflects the fact that regulators largely missed the Global Financial Crisis as well as the sudden demise of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

    “They need to be humble,” Clouse said. “We need to be a little more humble about the results and a little more alert about new challenges that normally haven’t been looked at with stress tests.”

    This year, the banks that took part in the stress tests including Bank of America Corp.
    BAC,
    -0.60%    ,
    Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
    BK,
    -0.64%    ,
    Capitol One Financial Corp.
    COF,
    +0.52%    ,
    Charles Schwab Corp.
    SCHW,
    +1.01%    ,
    Citigroup
    C,
    -0.37%    ,
    Citizens Financial Group Inc.
    CFG,
    -1.61%
    and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
    GS,
    +0.07%    .

    Other exams took place at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
    JPM,
    -0.44%    ,
    M&T Bank Corp.
    MTB,
    -0.18%    ,
    Morgan Stanley
    MS,
    -0.52%    ,
    Northern Trust Corp.
    NTRS,
    -0.46%    ,
    PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
    PNC,
    -0.36%    ,
    State Street Corp.
    STT,
    -0.62%    ,
    Truist Financial Corp.
    TFC,
    -0.07%    ,
    U.S. Bancorp
    USB,
    -0.71%
    and Wells Fargo & Co.
    WFC,
    -0.71%    .

    In 2022, the Fed said banks could withstand 10% unemployment and a 55% drop in stock prices as part of the year-ago stress test.

    KBW analyst David Konrad said in a June 22 research note he expected no “huge surprises” in addition to capital uncertainty around dividends and buybacks already expected by Wall Street.

    Providing guidance on how the Fed will study bank strength, Fed chair of supervision Michael Barr said last week that the Fed needs to consider “reverse stress tests” to look at “different ways an institution can die” instead of simply submitting banks to a specific list of hypothetical hardships.

    “We have to work harder at looking at patterns we haven’t seen before,” Barr said at an appearance on June 20.

    Also Read: Fed official eyes ‘reverse stress tests’ for banks as results awaited after 2023 bank failures

    Also read: FDIC studying plan to include smaller U.S. banks in Basel III capital requirements after failures in early 2023

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  • HELOCs are back. Cash-strapped borrowers are tapping into a $33 trillion pile of home equity.

    HELOCs are back. Cash-strapped borrowers are tapping into a $33 trillion pile of home equity.

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    Goodbye pandemic refi cash-outs. Hello HELOCs?

    Home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and second-lien mortgages have been staging a notable comeback as U.S. homeowners look for liquidity and ways to monetize the pandemic surge in home prices, according to BofA Global.

    It used to be that borrowers sitting on an estimated $33 trillion pile of equity built up in their homes could simply refinance and pull out cash, until the Federal Reserve’s rapid rate hikes began squelching the option.

    Now, with mortgage rates above 6%, and the Fed penciling in two more rate hikes in 2023, cash-strapped homeowners have been seeking out alternatives to extract cash from their properties.

    While cash-out refinances tumbled 83% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from a year before, HELOCs rose 7% and home-equity loans grew 31%, according to the latest TransUnion data.

    “Borrower demand remains high, particularly given household budgets have been pressured by rising food and energy costs,” a BofA Global credit strategy team led by Pratik Gupta’s, wrote in a weekly client note.

    Risky loans to subprime borrowers and home equity products helped precipitate the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and the era’s wave of devastating home foreclosures.

    At the time, households had more than $1.2 trillion of home equity revolving and available credit (see chart), whereas the figure was closer to $900 billion in the first quarter of this year.

    Home equity products are making a big comeback as households seek liquidity


    BofA Global, New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax

    The pandemic saw home prices surge, giving a big boost to home equity levels. The Urban Institute pegged home equity in the U.S. at $33 trillion as of May, up from a post-2008 peak of about $15 trillion.

    BofA analysts argued this time home equity products look different, with roughly $17 trillion of tappable equity across 117 million U.S. homeowners, and most borrowers having high credit scores and low rates.

    “The vast majority of that — $14 trillion — is from the cohort of homeowners who own their homes free & clear,” Gupta’s team wrote.

    Another $1.6 trillion of equity could be available from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae borrowers, according to his team, which pegged an estimated 94% of all outstanding U.S. first-lien home mortgages now below 4% rates.

    Major banks own the bulk of home equity balances (see chart), led by Bank of America Corp.
    BAC,
    +1.23%    ,
    PNC Bank
    PNC,
    +0.57%    ,
    Wells Fargo,
    WFC,
    -0.05%    ,
    JPMorgan Chase
    JPM,
    +0.24%
    and Citizens
    CFG,
    +0.35%    ,
    according to the team, which notes several other major banks appear to have hit pause on their programs.

    A smaller portion of HELOCs and second-lien mortgages have been securitized, or packaged up and sold as bond deals, while nonbank lenders have been offering the products as well.

    Stocks closed lower Monday, taking a pause from a recent rally, as investors monitored weekend tumult in Russia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.04%
    was less than 0.1% lower, while the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    -0.45%
    was off 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite
    COMP,
    -1.16%
    fell 1.2%, according to FactSet.

    Related: The economy was supposed to cave in by now. It hasn’t — and GDP is set to rise again.

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  • 10 dividend stocks yielding at least 4.5% that are rated ‘buy’ by most analysts

    10 dividend stocks yielding at least 4.5% that are rated ‘buy’ by most analysts

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    During a period of high interest rates, it might be more difficult to impress investors with dividend stocks. But the stocks can have an important advantage over the long term. The dividend payouts can increase over the years, helping to push share prices higher over time.

    When considering stocks for dividend income, yield shouldn’t be the only thing you consider. If a stock’s price has tumbled because investors are worried about the company’s business prospects, the dividend yield might be very high. A double-digit yield might mean investors expect to see a cut to the dividend soon.

    There are many ways to look at companies’ expected ability to maintain or raise their dividend payouts. But one can also take a simple approach to begin researching stock choices.

    At the moment, you can get a bank CD with a yield of close to 5% pretty easily. Here’s a look at current yields for CDs and U.S. Treasury securities and an approach for laddering them not only to protect your cash but to hedge against interest-rate risk.

    For investors who would rather aim for long-term growth to go along with dividend income, or take a relatively conservative approach to growth while reinvesting dividends, a screen of stocks in the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.33%
    produces only 10 stocks with dividend yields of 4.5% or higher with majority “buy” or equivalent ratings among analysts polled by FactSet. Here they are, sorted by dividend yield:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Dividend Yield

    		 Expected payout increase through 2025

    		 Share “buy” ratings

    		 April 16 price

    		 Consensus price target

    		 implied 12-month upside potential
    Comerica Inc.

    		 CMA,
    +4.00%         		6.56%

    		 10%

    		 58%

    		 $43.30

    		 $60.53

    		 40%
    Citizens Financial Group Inc.

    		 CFG,
    +4.19%         		5.77%

    		 12%

    		 74%

    		 $29.10

    		 $39.29

    		 35%
    Healthpeak Properties Inc.

    		 PEAK,
    +2.33%         		5.71%

    		 9%

    		 60%

    		 $21.01

    		 $27.69

    		 32%
    Hasbro Inc.

    		 HAS,
    +1.28%         		5.34%

    		 8%

    		 69%

    		 $52.40

    		 $69.27

    		 32%
    Philip Morris International Inc.

    		 PM,
    +0.46%         		5.11%

    		 11%

    		 67%

    		 $99.48

    		 $113.56

    		 14%
    Realty Income Corp.

    		 O,
    +1.30%         		5.04%

    		 7%

    		 56%

    		 $60.77

    		 $70.00

    		 15%
    Fifth Third Bancorp

    		 FITB,
    +3.33%         		4.99%

    		 3%

    		 72%

    		 $26.44

    		 $34.55

    		 31%
    VICI Properties Inc.

    		 VICI,
    +1.58%         		4.82%

    		 12%

    		 95%

    		 $32.35

    		 $37.73

    		 17%
    Organon & Co.

    		 OGN,
    +1.01%         		4.71%

    		 5%

    		 55%

    		 $23.80

    		 $31.89

    		 34%
    Iron Mountain Inc.

    		 IRM,
    +0.82%         		4.69%

    		 15%

    		 78%

    		 $52.76

    		 $56.00

    		 6%
    Source: FactSet

    Click on the ticker for more about each company.

    Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

    The dividend yields for this group of 10 companies are based on current annual regular payout rates, with all paying quarterly except for Realty Income Corp.
    O,
    +1.30%    ,
    which pays monthly.

    These two oil and natural gas producers would have passed the above screen based on their most recent dividend payments and analysts’ sentiment, however, they pay a combined fixed-plus-variable dividend every quarter, with the fixed portion relatively low:

    • Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
      PXD,
      -0.77%
      closed at $230 on April 14. Among analysts polled by FactSet, 59% rate the stock a “buy” or the equivalent, and the consensus price target is $257.42. The company pays a fixed quarterly dividend of $1.10 a share, which would make for a dividend yield of only 1.91%. However, the most recent variable quarterly dividend was $4.48 a share, for a combined quarterly dividend of $5.58, which would translate to an annualized dividend yield of 9.70%. The consensus estimate for dividends in 2025 is $4.63 — the analysts are only estimating the fixed portion of the dividend. Pioneer has held preliminary merger discussions with Exxon Corp.
      XOM,
      -1.16%      ,
      according to a Wall Street Journal report.

    • Devon Energy Corp.’s
      DVN,
      -0.72%
      stock closed at $55.70 on April 14. The shares are rated “buy” or the equivalent by 55% of analysts and the consensus price target is $67.66. The fixed portion of Devon’s quarterly dividend is 20 cents a share, for an annualized dividend yield of 1.44%. The variable portion of the most recent quarterly dividend was 69 cents a share. The total payout of 89 cents would make for an annual dividend yield of 6.39%. Analysts expect the fixed portion of annual dividends to total $3.61 in 2025, according to FactSet.

    Don’t miss: Buffett is buying in Japan. This overseas value-stock fund is also making bets there. Is it a good way to diversify?

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  • First Republic and Western Alliance pace big rebound in regional-bank stocks after huge losses

    First Republic and Western Alliance pace big rebound in regional-bank stocks after huge losses

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    Shares of regional banks posted big gains on Tuesday as they regained their footing after huge losses in the previous session, but volatility continued in the sector following the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital in the past week.

    While the rise in some cases is eye-popping, most stocks have yet to recover fully from losses in the past few days. Most stocks are trading well below their levels from a week ago, even with Tuesday’s gains.

    Among…

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