JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target to $72.50

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $78.00 to $72.50 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Argus set a $80.00 price target on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.22.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG opened at $64.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.72. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $47.96 and a 12-month high of $75.33.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $9,323,623.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,140,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,214,789.41. This represents a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 56,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,946,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 4,278 shares of the bank’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 29.9% during the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 883 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Its principal subsidiary, Citizens Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branches, digital channels and other delivery platforms.

The company’s consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lending, credit cards, personal loans and other lending products. Through its commercial banking operations, Citizens provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, treasury management, capital markets services and other solutions for companies and institutional clients.