JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target to $78.00

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price upped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.36% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CFG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.05.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.98. 1,622,136 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,947,367. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $45.90 and a 12-month high of $74.70. The company has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.22.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Saun Bruce Van sold 129,369 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,214,789.41. This trade represents a 10.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michelle Moosally sold 6,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.16, for a total transaction of $376,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,640.40. This trade represents a 21.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CFG. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 319.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by 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.