Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Upgraded by Bank of America to Buy Rating

Key Points

• Bank of America upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating, setting a new price target of $65.00, reflecting a potential upside of 24.41% from its previous close.
• Several brokerages, including Morgan Stanley and Barclays, have also raised their price targets for Citizens Financial Group, indicating a growing positive sentiment around the stock.
• The company has authorized a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, allowing it to buy back up to 8.5% of its shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $65.00 price target on the bank's stock, up from their prior price target of $52.00. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 24.41% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.86.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $52.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $50.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.70. 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 (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%.The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the second 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 holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during 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.

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