Raymond James Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock Price

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from $48.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "strong-buy" rating on the bank's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.73% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CFG. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.58.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CFG traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,503,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,837,387. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $49.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.76.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Investors Research Corp increased its stake 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. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 97.1% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 678 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 143.4% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the period. 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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