Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 18 buy ratings and 2 hold ratings from 20 covering firms. The average 12-month price target is about $71.36.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, posting EPS of $1.13 versus the $1.10 consensus and revenue of $2.17 billion, up 12% year over year. Analysts currently expect full-year EPS of 5.2.
• Citizens Financial Group also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.6%. Shares recently traded near their 52-week high, opening at $70.33 versus a high of $71.21.

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.3571.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $68.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total value of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,402,640.40. The trade was a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sapient Capital LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 6.0% in the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the bank's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,034,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,707 shares of the bank's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 67.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 112,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,722,000 after buying an additional 45,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caerus Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,772 shares of the bank's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock opened at $70.33 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $44.03 and a 52-week high of $71.21. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $64.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.68.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The business's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 43.50%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc NYSE: CFG is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.

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