Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $52.03 and last traded at $51.96, with a volume of 2991386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised Citizens Financial Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.53.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.3%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.88. The company has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,617,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $202,066,000 after purchasing an additional 684,039 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 15,027 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $323,000. 94.90% of the stock is 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.