Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

CFG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They set a market perform rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $43.07.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE CFG opened at $41.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $43.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Private Ocean LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 484.4% during the second quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at $48,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.