Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 207.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,272,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $339,733,000 after buying an additional 5,579,313 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,886 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,060,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,144 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,043,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,933,000 after acquiring an additional 942,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,644,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,897,000 after acquiring an additional 894,322 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $47.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.91. The firm has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $30.24 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1,962,330 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.45%.

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.