Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $27.64 Million Stock Holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 101.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 761,679 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 383,947 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $27,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,504,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $215,562,000 after purchasing an additional 95,292 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,625,128 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,722,000 after purchasing an additional 480,129 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $117,372,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,642 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.60.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,802,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,306,102. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.59. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $43.96.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.