Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG): Hedge Funds Are Snapping Up

“Citizens Financial Group (CFG) went public at the end of the third quarter of 2014. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) sold 25% of its stake in the IPO and has plans to divest its remaining stake by the end of 2016. While CFG is overcapitalized and currently generates a low ROE relative to peers, it plans to improve its ROE over the next two years through a combination of loan and fee income growth, cost reductions, capital return and a partial normalization of interest rates. We purchased CFG at $22.01, a discount to tangible book value and a significant discount to its banking peers. Over time, we believe the eventual exit of RBS and improvement in CFG’s ROE will drive improvement in the stock’s valuation. CFG management received stock incentives at the time of the IPO, aligning their interests with shareholders.CFG shares ended the quarter at $24.96.”

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to go over the new action regarding Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG).

How have hedgies been trading Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG)?

At the Q4’s end, a total of 67 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 20% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management has the most valuable position in Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG), worth close to $198.5 million, corresponding to 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, with a $168.1 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining professional money managers that are bullish contain Anthony Bozza’s Lakewood Capital Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital.