Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price target increased by Citigroup from $50.00 to $58.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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, Barclays raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.80.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $47.65 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.84. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $26.13 and a 12 month high of $48.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.14%.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 worth $339,733,000 after acquiring an additional 5,579,313 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $155,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,886 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,060,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,144 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,971 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 51.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,644,542 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,897,000 after buying an additional 894,322 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.