Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.28.

CFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,415,046,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 7,979.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,165,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $775,663,000 after buying an additional 12,014,785 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1,252.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 9,204,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $586,883,000 after acquiring an additional 8,523,938 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $223,386,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,234,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of CFG stock opened at $63.77 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week high of $75.33. The stock has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 18.07% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.30 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Citizens Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutional clients.

The company offers consumer deposit accounts, residential mortgages, home equity financing, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Its commercial banking activities include business loans, equipment financing, treasury management, capital markets services and investment banking.