JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Target Price to $36.00

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.50 to $36.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on CFG. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $37.73.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $34.70 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $36.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $213,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,465,824 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $117,372,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1,213.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,746,064 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,792 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,484,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,642 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.