Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $55.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $48.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.89.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $48.61 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.68. The company has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.42.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 13.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,431,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $108,864,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank’s stock worth $462,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298,040 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank’s stock worth $423,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.