Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.96 and last traded at $49.80, with a volume of 3798377 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Argus set a $45.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.05.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.57. The company has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $243,431,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $108,864,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $462,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298,040 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock valued at $270,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

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.