Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Stock Purchased by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 1,334.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,000 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,800 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $19,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $775,663,000 after acquiring an additional 12,014,785 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,883,000 after acquiring an additional 8,523,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,719,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $282,927,000 after purchasing an additional 28,602 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 31.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,685,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,265,000 after purchasing an additional 875,666 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Evercore set a $74.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

CFG stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.00 and a 1-year high of $75.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.67. The company has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. 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. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.85%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through Citizens Bank and related businesses, it provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards, wealth management, and commercial lending and cash-management services. The company also provides capital markets and other financial services to corporate clients.