Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.80.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a report on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFG. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.5 %

CFG traded up $0.64 on Tuesday, hitting $42.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,293,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,312,377. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $24.61 and a 52-week high of $44.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 66.14%.

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.