Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) – What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.79.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Argus cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, October 19th. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 482.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 183,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,704,000 after acquiring an additional 152,062 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 205.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 990,207 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,136,000 after acquiring an additional 665,781 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4,929.5% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 289,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,433,000 after buying an additional 283,349 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4,283.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 556,228 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,465,000 after acquiring an additional 543,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 94,191.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 112,233,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,155,994,000 after buying an additional 112,114,251 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE CFG opened at $63.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.87 and its 200 day moving average is $65.64. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.30 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.

Citizens traces its history to High Street Bank, founded in Providence in 1828.