Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $68.85 and last traded at $68.6630, with a volume of 1299088 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 report on Monday, March 9th. Stephens began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.21.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $355,909,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,731,592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,232,806 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,513,388 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $205,217,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.