Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10), RTT News reports. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $33.00 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $36.38. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.56. The stock has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,392 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,775,000 after purchasing an additional 241,869 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% during 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,785,751 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,191,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $507,304,000 after acquiring an additional 50,382 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet raised Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.88.

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.