I remain bullish on Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG) and, in particular, the unique digital consumer bank it's building. But after seeing the recently revealed results of the Federal Reserve's annual bank stress tests -- and acknowledging that hindsight is 20/20 -- it does look like Citizens missed an opportunity by not opting into the program this year.
Had it done so, it might have been able to lower its capital requirements, which, in theory, would have given it more ability to return capital to shareholders. Lower capital requirements would also make a statement to the broader market about Citizens' overall credit quality. What should investors take away from this?
Image source: Citizens Financial Group.
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Did Citizens Financial Group Cost Its Shareholders by Sitting Out the Fed's Stress Testing?