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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.5455.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $77.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 35,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 479,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,284,000 after buying an additional 129,995 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 856,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,315,000 after buying an additional 42,971 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $60,434,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,399,905 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,932,000 after buying an additional 1,098,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $62.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $65.88. The company has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.72.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 15.19%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.55%.

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.