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

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.60.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of CFG stock opened at $39.20 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $22.77 and a fifty-two week high of $43.96. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.93.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Private Ocean LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 484.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 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.