Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.78.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE CFG opened at $47.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $30.24 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.66.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,454 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,366,000 after buying an additional 5,191 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 606,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,845,000 after purchasing an additional 17,755 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,550,000 after purchasing an additional 587,115 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 115.2% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 98,765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 52,880 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.