32,400 Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Bought by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 32,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,000. Citizens Financial Group accounts for 1.6% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 66.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 12.5% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 96,233 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,943,000 after purchasing an additional 10,720 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 74.9% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 8,953 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,812 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $287,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $49.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.06 and a 200-day moving average of $44.84. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.86.

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.