Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10), RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG opened at $32.90 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $22.77 and a fifty-two week high of $36.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.02%.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total transaction of $151,198.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 93.6% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the second quarter worth $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.88.

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.