Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Increases Dividend to $0.46 Per Share

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.46 per share, up from $0.42, representing a 3.6% yield based on an annualized dividend.
• The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates of $1.03, and achieved a revenue of $2.12 billion.
• Equities analysts have shown positive sentiment, with several firms upgrading their ratings and raising price targets, projecting a consensus target price of $55.86 for the stock.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of 0.46 per share by the bank on Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 29th. This is a 9.5% increase from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Citizens Financial Group has a payout ratio of 34.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Citizens Financial Group to earn $4.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.7%.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.67. The stock had a trading volume of 7,831,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,757,761. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.98.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.86.

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.

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