Numerous Firms Initiate Coverage On Citizens Financial Group Following Quiet Period Expiration

On Monday, analysts at numerous firms initiated coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE: CFG) following the expiration of the analyst quiet period.

Oppenheimer Equity Research: Outperform rating with $29 price target. Ben Chittenden stated, “Our thesis for owning CFG is simple/straightforward. Post spin-off from RBS, the stock appears in a unique position to improve returns. The company is shifting from a mantra of “grow capital and minimize risk” to one of prudent risk-taking and organic growth to beef up its offering.”

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods: Outperform rating with $28 price target. Brian Klock stated, “We see expense control, capital management, and loan growth as key catalysts for the stock, and with a currently attractive 1.0x TBV valuation and over 20% potential upside.”

Morgan Stanley: Overweight rating with $27 price target. Ken Zerbe writes, “We think CFG can deliver steady profitability improvement through clearly defined initiatives, reaching a 10% ROTCE in 2016.”

Citi Research: Neutral rating with $26 price target. Keith Horowitz stated, “We rate the stock a Neutral as we believe the return on tangible equity (ROTE) will remain depressed for a while and are modeling ROTE below 9% (vs 5.8% in 3Q14) by the end of 2016 vs estimated cost of capital of 11%.”

Goldman Sachs: Equal-weight rating; $25 price target.
Evercore Partners: Buy rating; $27 price target.
Barclays: Equal-weight; $26 price target.
UBS: Neutral rating; $25 price target.
Wells Fargo: Market Perform rating.
Deutsche Bank: Buy rating; $26 price target.
RBC Capital: Sector Perform rating; $22 price target.
J.P. Morgan: Overweight rating; $27 price target.
Bernstein: Market Perform rating; $25 price target.