Brokerages Set Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Target Price at $45.47

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.47.

Several research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $47.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.66 and a 200 day moving average of $40.34. The company has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $27.97 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.42 dividend. 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 3.57%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,910,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 77.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 40,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 17,718 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $5,009,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 154,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,347,000 after purchasing an additional 11,044 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 308,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,108,000 after purchasing an additional 101,500 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.