Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Sold by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 95.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,300 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 26,700 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $76,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 25.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 687,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,553,000 after acquiring an additional 140,641 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $7,528,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 135,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,188,000 after buying an additional 33,923 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,415 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,284,000 after acquiring an additional 129,995 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $60,434,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.95.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $57.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.04 and a 200-day moving average of $56.74. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $68.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.55%.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.