Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

CFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,372,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,642 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,011 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,971 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock opened at $39.20 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $43.96. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.06 and a 200 day moving average of $34.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

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.