Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.88.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CFG. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet raised Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $32.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $36.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.02%.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.