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With a market cap of $18.4 billion, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) operates as a bank holding company that offers a range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the company operates in two segments: Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are generally classified as “large-cap” stocks, and Citizens Financial Group fits this description perfectly. The company is a leading financial institution that helps its customers with their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas, and solutions.
However, the company dipped 14.7% from its 52-week high of $49.25. Over the past three months, CFG is down 4.4%, lagging behind the broader Dow Jones Industrials Average's ($DOWI) 2% decline.
In the long term, CFG has slipped over 4% on a YTD basis, compared to the DOWI's marginal decrease. However, shares of Citizens Financial Group have gained 20.6% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing the Dow Jones’ nearly 8.1% rise over the same time frame.
Since March, CFG has been trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
On Jan. 17, CFG stock rose 1.6% after its Q4 2024 earnings release due to strong results. The company’s earnings came in at $0.85 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of $0.83. Revenue reached $1.99 billion, exceeding the $1.96 billion consensus estimate. Also, the net interest income (NII) rose 3%, driven by a 10 bps rise in net interest margin (NIM) to 2.9%.
Moreover, when compared, rival Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (AUB) has performed weaker than CFG. AUB has slumped 15.8% YTD and edged down 6.3% over the past 52 weeks.
Despite Citizens Financial Group's outperformance relative to the Dow over the past year, analysts have a cautiously optimistic outlook. With 20 analysts covering the stock, there is a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” and CFG is currently trading below the mean price target of $52.42.
