Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Overweight”

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has $41.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CFG. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.13.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CFG opened at $35.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.01. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $36.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 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.