California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 868,454 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 63,082 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $28,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4.5% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 22.0% in the third quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CFG stock opened at $35.15 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.77 and a fifty-two week high of $36.38. The stock has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush cut their price target on 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. StockNews.com cut Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

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.