Brokerages Set Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Target Price at $47.78

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CFG shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $47.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.74 and a 200 day moving average of $43.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $30.24 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $20.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,366,000 after buying an additional 5,191 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $21,845,000 after purchasing an additional 17,755 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,550,000 after purchasing an additional 587,115 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 115.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 98,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 52,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 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.