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

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.13.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE: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. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $36.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.95. The company has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 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.