Brokerages Set Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) PT at $69.14

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nineteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.9524.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $65.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.36 and a 200-day moving average of $58.21. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $33.95 and a 1-year high of $68.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 43.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at $9,632,956.84. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $355,909,000. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $308,946,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,050 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,731,592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $276,372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,232,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,513,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $205,217,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.