Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Forecast for CFG Earnings

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) – Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Citizens Financial Group in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 2nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the bank will post earnings of $3.21 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $3.20. The consensus estimate for Citizens Financial Group’s current full-year earnings is $3.20 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Citizens Financial Group’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.81 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.93 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.85 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.68 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CFG. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.71.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock opened at $44.82 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 66.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,781,000 after acquiring an additional 805,758 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at $590,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 655,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,368,000 after acquiring an additional 29,940 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.