Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 226,129 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $15,845,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 19,694 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 7,719 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $69.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.67. The company has a market cap of $29.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.