Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $55.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Raymond James’ target price indicates a potential upside of 29.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CFG. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG stock opened at $42.45 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $30.24 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.92 and its 200-day moving average is $41.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 10.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commerce Bank raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,177 shares of the bank’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 11,395 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 88,829 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,648,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 6,976 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.