Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.48, but opened at $42.33. Citizens Financial Group shares last traded at $44.04, with a volume of 2,302,800 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.27 and its 200 day moving average is $38.00.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 78,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,838,000 after buying an additional 20,649 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 101.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 761,679 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,641,000 after purchasing an additional 383,947 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth $1,180,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $930,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 642.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 272,676 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,895,000 after purchasing an additional 235,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.