Brokerages Set Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Price Target at $35.88

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.93.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $34.98 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.83. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $36.38. The firm has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.87%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,704.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,959,000. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,212 shares of the bank’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,296,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,970,000 after buying an additional 431,624 shares during the last quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,222.9% during the 3rd quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,163,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,168,000 after buying an additional 1,128,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 539,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,887,000 after buying an additional 7,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.