Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.05.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $74.72 on Monday. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $74.86. The stock has a market cap of $31.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares in the company, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 10,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 19,694 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 5,270 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 7,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.