Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Baird R W

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) was downgraded by research analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $58.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.36. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $59.31.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 7.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

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 CFG. Investors Research Corp lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 344.8% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 177.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 16,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 891.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 72.4% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.