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

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $41.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Sunday, May 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.20.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $39.77 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.10. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $43.96. The company has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, 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 posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 606,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,845,000 after acquiring an additional 17,755 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at $240,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 31,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 257,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,281,000 after buying an additional 5,443 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.