Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10), RTT News reports. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $33.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.38. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $36.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CFG shares. TheStreet raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.88.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 53,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 12,350 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 57,027 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 71,237 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 6,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 38,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.