Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG opened at $48.61 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $32.60 and a one year high of $49.68. The stock has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.43.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 8.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CFG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. The firm moved its midcap bank industry view from Attractive to In-line, saying “higher and faster than expected” tariffs raise recession risks, will weigh on loan growth and in-turn, forward earnings and multiples. The group is “cheap,” but weaker for longer loan growth and inverted yield curve limit upside catalysts. Argus set a $45.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.89.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.