Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lowered Citizens Financial Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $37.13.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG opened at $34.11 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $36.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.13.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of Citizens Financial Group 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 94.90% of the stock is 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.