Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock Price

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.48% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Argus upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $62.50 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.27.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $60.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $25.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.20. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $68.79.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,632,956.84. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 891.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.