Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock: North Dakota State Investment Board Grows Holdings

North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 134.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,905 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,142 shares during the quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $775,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014,785 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,883,000 after buying an additional 8,523,938 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $282,927,000 after buying an additional 28,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,265,000 after buying an additional 875,666 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $65.75 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.00 and a 52-week high of $75.33. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.56 and a 200-day moving average of $65.52.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 18.07%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.28.

Citizens Financial Group Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.