Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.07.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $41.30 on Wednesday. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $43.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at $1,454,401.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 558.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 5,167 shares in the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 102,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,199,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 483.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 45.4% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 5,818 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.