Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Raised to $68.50 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $68.50 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays set a $77.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.88.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $65.12 on Thursday. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $36.72 and a one year high of $68.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.83.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $355,909,000. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth $308,946,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,722,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,075,000 after buying an additional 2,799,050 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 89.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,731,592 shares of the bank’s stock worth $276,372,000 after buying an additional 2,232,806 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,513,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $205,217,000 after buying an additional 2,027,255 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.