1,974,566 Shares in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Bought by Nykredit A S

Key Points

• Nykredit A S acquired 1.97 million shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter, valued at approximately $138.4 million and representing a 0.47% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 94.9% of the bank.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 16 Buy ratings and four Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.80.
• Citizens Financial Group exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.30 EPS and $2.28 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, or a 2.7% annualized yield.

Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,974,566 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $138,358,000. Nykredit A S owned 0.47% of Citizens Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, August 14th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.80.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $67.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.66. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.96 and a 52 week high of $75.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.26 and a 200-day moving average of $66.19.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Bank, the company provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, institutions and government entities.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, credit cards, business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, investment banking, capital markets services and wealth management.

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