16,621 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,449 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,621 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $11,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bahl & Gaynor LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 410.8% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 25,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 20,210 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,842,000. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2,693.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 530,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,850,000 after acquiring an additional 511,888 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,657.3% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,460,117 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421,256 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1,210.0% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 162,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,353,000 after purchasing an additional 149,986 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $81.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Evercore set a $74.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.79.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $75.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 41.85%.

Citizens Financial Group 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.