Evercore ISI Raises Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target to $39.00

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the bank’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.30% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CFG. UBS Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.63.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CFG traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $36.01. 692,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,903,675. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.76. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $22.77 and a 52 week high of $36.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.36.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 123.0% during the second quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 491,005 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,805,000 after acquiring an additional 270,777 shares during the period. Point72 Middle East FZE increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 115.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE now owns 410,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,697,000 after acquiring an additional 219,670 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $711,000. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,222.9% in the 3rd quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,163,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.