Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Increased to $50.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James initiated coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a market perform rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CFG traded up $0.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.82. The company had a trading volume of 5,405,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,552,668. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $43.96. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.12 and its 200 day moving average is $35.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Private Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 484.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.