Citizens Financial stock upgraded at BofA Securities on 25% upside potential

[Citizens Bank in Hampton Township in Pittsburgh]
bgwalker/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Citizens Financial (NYSE:CFG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CFG]) was trading higher after BofA Securities upgraded the banking stock on a 25% upside potential.

Shares were +0.96% to $52.51 before the opening bell on Thursday.

"We upgrade Citizens Financial (NYSE:CFG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CFG]) to Buy from Neutral, raise PO to $65 from $52, now based on 12.5x our 2026 P/E and 1.6x our 2026 P/TBV (vs 10x/1.3x prior) implying 25% potential upside," said analysts including Ebrahim Poonawala and Brandon Berman.

"While we have missed the stock’s initial outperformance (1700bp YTD vs. super regional bank peers) we think valuation remains compelling given multiple idiosyncratic catalysts to drive EPS growth," said the research note.

The investment bank estimates over 300 basis points of improvement in the return on tangible common equity by 2028, accelerating pre-provision net revenue growth, and M&A optionality boosting stock valuation.

BofA's rating aligns with the average sell-side analysts [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CFG/ratings/sell-side-ratings] and Seeking Alpha authors [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CFG/ratings/author-ratings] rating of Buy. Meanwhile, the Quant Rating [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CFG/ratings/quant-ratings] system sees the stock as Strong Buy.

MORE ON CITIZENS FINANCIAL

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* Citizens Financial: Time To Go Long With A Mix Of Preferred And Common Shares [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4815432-citizens-financial-time-to-go-long-with-a-mix-of-preferred-and-common-shares]
* CFG.PR.I: A 6.5% Fixed-Rate Reset Preferred IPO From Citizens Financial [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4810998-citizens-financial-cfgpri-6-5-percent-fixed-rate-reset-preferred-ipo-]
* Citizens Financial upgraded at Morgan Stanley on ROTCE improvement [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4499877-citizens-financial-upgraded-at-morgan-stanley-on-rotce-improvement]