Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CFG. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.80.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $42.14 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $44.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.00. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,401.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 12.7% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 88,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,648,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 360 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.