Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $48.36 and last traded at $48.36, with a volume of 2827 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.80.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.84. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CFG. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 207.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,272,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $339,733,000 after buying an additional 5,579,313 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,886 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,060,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,144 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,971 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,644,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,897,000 after purchasing an additional 894,322 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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.