California State Teachers Retirement System Has $2.77 Billion Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Citizens Financial Group stake by 7,016.6% in the second quarter, acquiring more than 39 million shares. It now owns approximately 9.39% of CFG, valued at $2.77 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 16 Buy ratings and four Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.80. CFG recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.30 EPS versus the $1.25 consensus.
• Citizens Financial Group paid a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.84 dividend and a 2.6% yield. Separately, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares worth approximately $9.3 million.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 7,016.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,561,872 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 39,005,965 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 9.39% of Citizens Financial Group worth $2,772,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $661,052,000 after acquiring an additional 32,264 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 270,484 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,799,000 after purchasing an additional 85,052 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 991,510 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,914,000 after purchasing an additional 94,774 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,648 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,426,000 after purchasing an additional 20,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $95,642,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. 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 company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.80.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CFG opened at $69.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.95.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.91%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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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