Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Position in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Free Report) by 105.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,184 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $4,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,430,000 after purchasing an additional 367,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,910,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.58 on Friday, hitting $45.75. 3,821,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,716,601. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.54 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.