Citizens Financial Group: Improving traction on growth initiatives

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Citizens Financial Group: Improving traction on growth initiatives

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Citizens Financial Group

Improving traction on growth initiatives

Reiterate Rating: BUY | PO: 82.00 USD | Price: 72.38 USD

Delivering for shareholders 17 July 2026

The investment thesis on CFG shares has been clear over the last year. Franchise Equity

investments should deliver superior (organic) growth while management stays

disciplined on capital deployment (not chasing bank M&A). There are not too many

Key Changesregional banks that fit this billing, either given their M&A bias, or tepid organic growth

potential due to the lack of franchise investments coming into this growth cycle. 2Q (US$) Previous Current

update reinforced our thesis. We see risk/reward as attractive at 11.1x 2027e P/E and Price Obj. 81.00 82.00

1.7x YE27e TBV, relative to 25% avg EPS growth FY26-28; 17.2% FY28e ROTCE. 2026E Rev (m) 9,118.0 9,205.1

2027E Rev (m) 9,873.9 9,931.8

2028E Rev (m) 10,205.3 10,482.4Nudge EPS estimates higher

CFG shares outperformed on Thursday after reporting 2Q26 EPS of $1.30, beating 2026E EPS 5.18 5.30

BofA/consensus $1.25/$1.24 estimates, driven by stronger NII (+1.3%/+0.8% vs. 2027E EPS 6.48 6.55

BofA/Cons.) and fees (+2.0%/+3.2%) coupled with stable expenses, demonstrating 2028E EPS 7.04 7.50

continued operating leverage despite ongoing franchise investments. Management now

expecting YoY NII growth above +10-12% and fees toward the high end of +6-8% YoY, Ebrahim H. Poonawala

Research Analyst

partially offset by higher expenses due to stronger revenue growth (~5%). Raise BofAS

FY26/27e EPS to $5.30/$6.55 (from $5.18/$6.48) and PO to $82 (from $81). +1 646 743 0490 ebrahim.poonawala@bofa.com

NIM expansion being realized, driving NII upside BrandonResearch AnalystBerman