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

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.06.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CFG. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Compass Point raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $34.28 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $32.06 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.93. The company has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 acquiring an additional 5,579,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,431,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $423,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,204 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,060,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.