Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10), RTT News reports. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $33.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.33 and its 200-day moving average is $30.63. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $22.77 and a 1 year high of $36.38.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. StockNews.com raised Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,749,075,000 after buying an additional 2,540,392 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,775,000 after purchasing an additional 241,869 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $861,383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,203,831 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,191,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $507,304,000 after purchasing an additional 50,382 shares during the last quarter. 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.