Board of the Pension Protection Fund Invests $1.45 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• The Pension Protection Fund invested $1.45 million in Citizens Financial Group, acquiring 32,400 shares, making it the 20th largest position in its portfolio.
• Citizens Financial Group reported $0.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.88, with a revenue increase of 3.8% year-over-year.
• The company has a dividend yield of 3.4%, with a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share recently paid out, representing a payout ratio of 51.06%.

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,400 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,000. Citizens Financial Group makes up 1.6% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% in the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% in the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 5.0%

CFG opened at $49.25 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $51.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm 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. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $55.24.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 presently 51.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $62.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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