Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from 21 brokerages, with a twelve-month price objective averaging $56.57.
• The company reported a 12.1% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.05, exceeding expectations by $0.02.
• Citizens Financial Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46, an increase from the previous $0.42, with a yield of 3.7%.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.5714.

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Citizens Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 16th.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $50.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.79. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $32.60 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Citizens Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 16,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 680 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,970.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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