Morgan Stanley Increases Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target to $50.00

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CFG. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a market perform rating for the company. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.20.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.4 %

CFG traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $38.82. 5,405,117 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,552,668. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $43.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,713,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,878 shares of the bank’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 292,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,786,000 after purchasing an additional 11,976 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 103,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,437,000 after purchasing an additional 39,529 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,304 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares during the period. 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.