Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target Raised to $62.00 at UBS Group

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $57.00 to $62.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CFG. Barclays upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Citizens Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $48.50 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $57.00 price objective on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE CFG opened at $53.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. Citizens Financial Group has a 52 week low of $32.60 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $398,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 425.7% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,104 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 21,138 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $410,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 37.9% during the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.