Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of CFG opened at $48.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.76. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $32.60 and a 1 year high of $49.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $58.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.79.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 10,466 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.