Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Position

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 1,532.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 373,122 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 350,270 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.09% of Citizens Financial Group worth $23,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth $29,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $35,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore set a $74.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $65.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $75.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.85%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.

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