Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Increased to $47.00 by Analysts at Argus

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price objective lifted by Argus from $34.00 to $47.00 in a research note released on Thursday, The Fly reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.96.

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $38.39 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.68. The company has a market cap of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $14.12 and a 12-month high of $41.67.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 19th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 5.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 3rd will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.63%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

In related news, insider Brendan Coughlin sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.35, for a total value of $424,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,606.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. now owns 567,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,663 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,112,000 after buying an additional 45,395 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,248,000 after buying an additional 51,091 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 602,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,241,000 after buying an additional 56,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 124.4% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 70,238 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,776,000 after buying an additional 38,931 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, home and education loans, credit cards, business loans, mortgage and home equity lending, and unsecured product finance and personal loans, as well as wealth management and investment services to retail customers and small businesses.