Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Upgraded at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CFG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.00.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CFG opened at $51.78 on Tuesday. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $52.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.31.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 515.8% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 219,090 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,124,000 after purchasing an additional 183,512 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 56.2% in the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 10.8% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 53,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 29.6% in the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other 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.