Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7%, acquiring an additional 7,259 shares to hold a total of 280,323 shares worth approximately $12.5 million.
• Citizens Financial Group recently announced a $1.50 billion stock repurchase program to buy back up to 8.5% of its shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• Analyst ratings for Citizens Financial Group have improved, with several firms raising price targets, including Barclays, which increased its target from $49.00 to $55.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,323 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 7,259 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.06% of Citizens Financial Group worth $12,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,851 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $417,000. Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% in the second quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 22.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,977 shares of the bank's stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.1% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 54,475 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.35.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:CFG opened at $53.40 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.60 and a twelve month high of $53.89. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group 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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