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 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.