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

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CFG. Wedbush dropped their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $37.13.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CFG opened at $35.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.68 and a 200 day moving average of $30.95. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $36.38.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $213,219.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 35,157,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,165,106,000 after buying an additional 1,199,158 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.7% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,594,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,732,000 after purchasing an additional 621,715 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% during the third 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 during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,504,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,562,000 after purchasing an additional 95,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,532,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,268,000 after purchasing an additional 332,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.