Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at Argus

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price increased by Argus from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the bank’s stock.

CFG has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $37.13.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $35.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.98. The company has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.38. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $36.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,032 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in 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. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,071 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 17,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.