Citizens Financial Group (CFG) Competitors

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) and Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of FITB or CFG?

83.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Fifth Third Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Citizens Financial Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor FITB or CFG?

In the previous week, Citizens Financial Group had 7 more articles in the media than Fifth Third Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Citizens Financial Group and 20 mentions for Fifth Third Bancorp. Fifth Third Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat Citizens Financial Group's score of 1.06 indicating that Fifth Third Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fifth Third Bancorp	18 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Citizens Financial Group	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FITB or CFG a better dividend stock?

Fifth Third Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Citizens Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fifth Third Bancorp pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Citizens Financial Group pays out 51.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, FITB or CFG?

Fifth Third Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Citizens Financial Group. Fifth Third Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citizens Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fifth Third Bancorp	$13.28B	2.13	$2.31B	$3.22	13.29
Citizens Financial Group	$7.85B	2.66	$1.51B	$3.29	14.70

Which has more risk and volatility, FITB or CFG?

Fifth Third Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citizens Financial Group has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FITB or CFG?

Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $47.80, indicating a potential upside of 11.68%. Citizens Financial Group has a consensus target price of $51.53, indicating a potential upside of 6.55%. Given Fifth Third Bancorp's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Fifth Third Bancorp is more favorable than Citizens Financial Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fifth Third Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
Citizens Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89

Is FITB or CFG more profitable?

Fifth Third Bancorp has a net margin of 17.97% compared to Citizens Financial Group's net margin of 13.26%. Fifth Third Bancorp's return on equity of 13.31% beat Citizens Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fifth Third Bancorp	17.97%	13.31%	1.15%
Citizens Financial Group	13.26%	6.94%	0.72%

Summary

Fifth Third Bancorp beats Citizens Financial Group on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.