Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) posted its earnings results on Friday. The bank reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Citizens Financial Group’s conference call:

• Strong third-quarter performance continued, with EPS up 8.5% sequentially and 34% year over year, ROTCE improving to 15.1%, record revenue, and more than 500 basis points of year-over-year positive operating leverage.
• Net interest income rose 2.7% sequentially as NIM expanded to 3.19%; management expects fourth-quarter NII growth of approximately 2.5%-3% and NIM of 3.23%-3.26%, supported by asset sensitivity, repricing, and continued deposit-cost discipline.
• Management raised shareholder returns, increasing the quarterly dividend 13% to $0.52 per share and expanding share-repurchase authorization to $1.95 billion, with at least $200 million of buybacks expected in the fourth quarter.
• Capital markets and wealth pipelines remain strong, particularly in M&A, while the private bank added $2 billion of loans and reached $18.5 billion in deposits; management expects fourth-quarter fee income to rise approximately 4%-5%.
• Credit metrics remained broadly favorable, but commercial loans declined 2% excluding the private bank as CRE and C&I balances contracted; management expects charge-offs to be stable or slightly lower and continues to monitor office real estate and the macroeconomic environment.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

CFG stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,449,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,404,958. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $48.31 and a 52-week high of $75.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.04.

More Citizens Financial Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter net income rose 29% year over year to $636 million, while EPS increased 34% year over year and 8% sequentially to $1.41. The result exceeded consensus estimates of $1.39 and was well above the $1.05 reported in the prior-year quarter. Citizens Financial Group Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Higher net interest income supported the earnings beat, and management highlighted improved credit quality. These trends suggest better core banking profitability and reduced near-term credit-loss pressure. CFG Stock Up as Q3 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens increased its dividend by 13%, improving the stock’s income appeal and signaling confidence in capital generation and future earnings. CFG Stock Up as Q3 Earnings Top Estimates, Dividend Hiked
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings call and company release provide additional detail on quarterly performance and management’s outlook, but investors are balancing strong profitability against uneven revenue trends. Citizens Financial Group Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations, primarily because capital-markets fees declined. The shortfall helps explain why the market response was less favorable than the EPS beat alone might suggest. Citizens Financial Q3 Earnings Beat, Revenue Misses
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald issued a pessimistic forecast for CFG, adding an additional source of downside pressure despite the quarterly earnings beat. Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Pessimistic Forecast

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, CEO Bruce Van Saun sold 129,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $9,323,623.83. Following the sale, 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. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CFG. Citigroup raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.08.

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.