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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)’s share price hit 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.82.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CFG. Wedbush lowered their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,391,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,575,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,127 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 35,157,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,165,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,158 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,775,000 after acquiring an additional 241,869 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

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

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.