Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Stock

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $70.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 11.78% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial cut Citizens Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $66.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.90.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $64.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $33.95 and a 12-month high of $68.79. The stock has a market cap of $27.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.09.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 16.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $769,494.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 165,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,632,956.84. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 891.5% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

More Citizens Financial Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citizens Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat: CFG reported EPS $1.13 and revenue $2.17B, with net income up ~39% YoY and strong YoY EPS growth — core drivers were NII and fee income. This is the primary near‑term catalyst for the stock. TMCNet Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Margin expansion & private banking: Analysts and commentary highlight margin expansion and growth in private/wealth channels as sustainable earnings levers, supporting higher earnings estimates. Seeking Alpha Margin Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price target raises: Multiple firms raised targets (RBC to $70/outperform; Keefe Bruyette & Woods to $72/outperform; Truist to $69/hold), signaling ~7–12% upside from current levels and likely supporting buying interest. Benzinga TickerReport The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared: CFG announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 (annualized yield ~2.9%) with an ex‑dividend date of Apr 30 — supports income investors and base valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call & deep dive coverage: Transcripts and analyst deep dives (earnings slide deck and call transcripts) provide more detail on capital deployment, credit trends and guidance; useful for modeling forward EPS. Earnings Call Transcript Yahoo Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Rising expenses & uncertainty: Some coverage flagged higher operating expenses and geopolitical/market uncertainty, which trimmed pre‑market gains despite the beat and could pressure near‑term margins if the trend continues. Zacks on Expenses

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.