Citizens Financial Group, Inc. to Post FY2024 Earnings of $3.27 Per Share, Wedbush Forecasts (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) – Analysts at Wedbush decreased their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the bank will post earnings per share of $3.27 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.35. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Citizens Financial Group’s current full-year earnings is $3.25 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Citizens Financial Group’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.93 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.89 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.90 EPS.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.29.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $32.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.38. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $36.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.58.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.87%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CFG. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $861,383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,203,831 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,465,824 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $192,928,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,213.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,746,064 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,792 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.