New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,400 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Citizens Financial Group were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Trust Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 24,634 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the bank's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,483 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 13,296 shares of the bank's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horan Securities Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 5,582 shares of the bank's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 88.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 20th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.75.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 19th. The bank reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.12. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 25.04%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 2nd were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.53%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, June 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Citizens Financial Group

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association 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.

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