Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Increased to $39.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price upped by Evercore ISI from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CFG. Barclays cut Citizens Financial Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup raised Citizens Financial Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.63.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CFG stock opened at $36.29 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.80. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $36.35. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CFG. Alps Advisors Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 123.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 491,005 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,805,000 after buying an additional 270,777 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE now owns 410,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,697,000 after buying an additional 219,670 shares in the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $711,000. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3,222.9% in the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,163,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $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.

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.