Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Acquires 11,287 Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. $CFG

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) by 132.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,823 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,287 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $1,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,173,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 2,082,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,730,000 after buying an additional 1,594,326 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,448,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,991,000 after buying an additional 1,508,070 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 411.6% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,729,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,025,000 after buying an additional 1,391,483 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,574,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,029,000 after buying an additional 763,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,640.40. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.88.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $61.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.80 and a twelve month high of $68.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.77.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.50%.

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.