Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.89.

CFG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 39,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the bank’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,879 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:CFG opened at $40.42 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $32.60 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.29. The company has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

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.