Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.80.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $786,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 510,183 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,515,000 after buying an additional 14,105 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 127,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $253,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $41.59 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.73. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $24.61 and a 52-week high of $44.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.14%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.