Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock Price Target Cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut Citizens Financial Group’s price target from $78.00 to $72.50 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying roughly 13% upside from the stock’s reported $64.14 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 16 analysts rate CFG a Buy and four rate it a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $79.22.
• Citizens reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, exceeding estimates of $1.25, while revenue rose 12.1% year over year to $2.28 billion; institutional investors own approximately 94.9% of the stock.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $78.00 to $72.50 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the bank's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.04% from the company's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.22.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.14. 1,409,492 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,594,487. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.65. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $75.33. The company has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 9,245 shares of the bank's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,801,000 after acquiring an additional 5,983 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 94.7% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 269,900 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,912,000 after buying an additional 131,300 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 1,307,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $91,605,000 after purchasing an additional 42,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 58,388 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,091,000 after purchasing an additional 8,946 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branches, digital channels and other delivery platforms.

The company's consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lending, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Through its commercial banking operations, Citizens provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, capital markets services and other solutions for companies and institutional clients.

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