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

Key Points

• Analysts remain generally positive: Citizens Financial Group has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with 16 buy and 4 hold recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $79.80, above the stock’s $69.67 opening price.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: The bank reported $1.30 in earnings per share versus the $1.25 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 12.1% year over year to $2.28 billion.
• Shareholders received a dividend: Citizens paid a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.84 payout and a 2.6% yield. CEO Bruce Van Saun also sold 129,369 shares, reducing his position by 10.19%.

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.80.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Friday, August 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.4%

CFG opened at $69.67 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $29.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.66. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $47.96 and a 52 week high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%.The company's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through its primary subsidiary, Citizens Bank, the company provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, institutions and government entities.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, credit cards, business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, investment banking, capital markets services and wealth management.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.