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

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

CFG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.13.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.6 %

CFG stock opened at $35.52 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $36.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.54 and its 200-day moving average is $30.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 4.73%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $213,219.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,977,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,343 shares of the bank’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,737 shares of the bank’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,071 shares of the bank’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connable Office Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 17,319 shares of the bank’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.