New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 32,428 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 9.0% in the first quarter, buying 32,428 shares and bringing its total holding to 393,918 shares worth about $23.6 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive on CFG, with 18 analysts rating it a Buy or equivalent and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy; the average price target is $72.38.
• Citizens Financial Group reported solid recent results, posting EPS of $1.13 versus the $1.10 estimate, while revenue rose 12% year over year; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,918 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 32,428 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Citizens Financial Group worth $23,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CFG. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the bank's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the bank's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 10,902 shares of the bank's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 19,694 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,107 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Stephens assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.38.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,402,640.40. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $70.97 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $65.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.90 and a one year high of $72.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.50%.

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.

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