OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Invests $3.37 Million in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 48,054 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,367,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,415,046,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $175,948,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $174,108,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $69.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.62. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.96 and a 1-year high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Friday, August 14th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.