Morgan Stanley Lowers Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Price Target to $54.00

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $54.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.22.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $40.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $32.06 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.17.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,134,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,694,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,152,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,430,000 after purchasing an additional 367,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,974,434 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,781,000 after buying an additional 805,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.