Barclays Upgrades Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) to “Strong-Buy”

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CFG. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial set a $62.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $58.57.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $61.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $61.58.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 60,307 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,699,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,497 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.