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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.13.

CFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

Insider Transactions 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $400,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 33.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 152,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,531,000 after acquiring an additional 37,798 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,737 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 47,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 11,429 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 409,217 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,850,000 after buying an additional 31,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of CFG opened at $34.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $36.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.89.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

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.