Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Raised to $50.00 at Morgan Stanley

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.51% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.20.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded down $0.89 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.31. 4,105,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,535,843. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $43.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.06 and a 200-day moving average of $34.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,332,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,504,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,562,000 after acquiring an additional 95,292 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,625,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,722,000 after acquiring an additional 480,129 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $117,372,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,642 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.