Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases 277,309 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board significantly increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1,487.3%, acquiring an additional 277,309 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.07%, valued at $12.12 million.
• The bank recently announced a $1.50 billion stock buyback plan, indicating the board's belief that its stock is undervalued, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share with a yield of 3.6%.
• Citizens Financial Group reported earnings of $0.92 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.8% to $2.04 billion.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 1,487.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,954 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 277,309 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned approximately 0.07% of Citizens Financial Group worth $12,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 39,766 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the bank's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,879 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 32,767 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 17,386 shares of the bank's stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $46.97 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $44.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.71. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $49.98.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CFG. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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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