Brokerages Set Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Target Price at $43.80

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.80.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $46.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $24.61 and a 12 month high of $48.35.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.14%.

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.