Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $39.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Citizens Financial Group traded as high as $36.18 and last traded at $35.93, with a volume of 155706 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.82.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CFG. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.63.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group 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 $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.6% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% in 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 period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.26). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.02%.

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.