CFG, Citizens Financial Group Inc/ri
We offer a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions.
Read top to bottom, the owner's questions in the order an owner asks them: what the business is, whether the record holds, whether it survives and is any good, and what you would be paying. New to the questions? Start with the Method.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, read from the numbers in its filings. The quantitative detail is in the sections below; the verdict is left to you.
- What it is
- Revenue is led by Capital markets fees (30%) and Service charges and fees (27%), with 3 more lines behind.
- What moves the needle
- Net interest margin, loan losses, and book value. A lender is read on the quality of its balance sheet, not on an earnings multiple.
- Is it a good business?
- Return on equity has sat below the cost of equity (median 7%, above 12% in only 0 of 10 years). It runs at a 64% efficiency ratio, about average. The cycle and the loan book decide this one; weigh the recession years in the record, not the average, and read the 10-K.
Every line here is arithmetic from the company's own filings, not a model's opinion, and each figure appears in full in the sections below.
Where the money comes from
read the 10-K →Revenue spreads across 5 lines, the largest Capital markets fees at 30%.
- Capital markets fees30%$485M
- Service charges and fees27%$442M
- Wealth fees22%$360M
- Card fees20%$335M
- Other banking fees1%$13M
From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
The record, 2016–2025
realized figures from each filing, no estimates| 2016’16 | 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueRevenue | $5.3B | $5.7B | $1.1B | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.5B | $1.6B | $1.7B |
| Net interest incomeNet int. | $3.8B | $4.2B | $4.5B | $4.6B | $4.6B | $4.5B | $6.0B | $6.2B | $5.6B | $5.9B | $6.0B |
| Net incomeNet inc. | $1.0B | $1.7B | $1.7B | $1.8B | $1.1B | $2.3B | $2.1B | $1.6B | $1.5B | $1.8B | $2.0B |
| EPS (diluted)EPS | $1.99 | $3.28 | $3.58 | $3.97 | $2.47 | $5.43 | $4.34 | $3.37 | $3.33 | $4.19 | $4.59 |
| Return on equityROE | 5% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 5% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Return on tangible equityROTCE | 8% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 7% | 14% | 14% | 10% | 9% | 10% | 11% |
| Efficiency ratioEffic. | 64% | 61% | 59% | 59% | 58% | 61% | 61% | 67% | 67% | 64% | 63% |
| DepositsDeposits | $109.8B | $115.1B | $119.6B | $125.3B | $147.2B | $154.4B | $180.7B | $177.3B | $174.8B | $183.3B | $184.0B |
| Book value / shareBVPS | $37.69 | $40.24 | $43.33 | $49.20 | $52.95 | $54.79 | $49.58 | $51.06 | $53.48 | $60.24 | $60.88 |
| Tangible book / shareTBVPS | $24.57 | $26.57 | $28.86 | $33.44 | $36.35 | $37.99 | $32.06 | $33.56 | $35.11 | $41.23 | $41.49 |
| Dividends / shareDiv/sh | $0.46 | $0.64 | $0.98 | $1.37 | $1.57 | $1.57 | $1.63 | $1.70 | $1.70 | $1.73 | — |
Owner’s Scorecard
Is it a good business?
- Below the cost of equityNet income $1.8B ÷ equity $26.3B
The bank's north star, what it earns on shareholders' capital. Cost of equity is roughly 10%, so a return durably above that builds value and below it destroys it. One year is noisy; the durability across a full credit cycle is what counts.
- ModestNet income ÷ (equity − goodwill $8.2B − intangibles $115M)
The cleaner return, stripping out the goodwill paid for past acquisitions. This is the number a buyer of the whole bank actually earns on the hard capital.
- Efficiency ratio 64%EfficientNoninterest expense $5.3B ÷ (net interest income + fees)
The share of revenue eaten by running costs; lower is better, and below about 60% marks a genuinely efficient operation. A low ratio held for years is the operational side of a moat.
Is it sound?
- Capital (equity / assets) 11.6%Well capitalizedEquity $26.3B ÷ assets $226.4B
A plain-English leverage read: how much of the balance sheet is the owners' own money. This is a rough proxy; the regulatory figure is the CET1 ratio, which is risk-weighted and reported in the filing. The point is the same, how much loss the bank can absorb before depositors are at risk.
- Deposit funding 81%Deposit-fundedDeposits $183.3B ÷ assets $226.4B
Low-cost, sticky deposits are a bank's real moat, the cheap raw material it lends out at a spread. A bank funded mostly by deposits earns more durably than one that rents its money in the wholesale market.
- Credit cost (provision / NII) 28%ElevatedProvision for credit losses $1.6B ÷ net interest income $5.9B
What the bank set aside this year against loans going bad, as a share of its lending income. This swings hard with the cycle, low in good years and spiking in recessions, so read it across the record, not in one year. Disciplined underwriting shows up as low, stable provisions through a downturn.
Solvent is not the same as cheap; growing is not the same as good. These are vital signs, not a verdict, the judgment is yours, and the filing is one click away.
What the price implies
price / tangible bookA bank is worth a multiple of its tangible book value, and the multiple it deserves is set by the return it earns on that book. Type today’s price; we show what you would be paying against what Citizens Financial Group Inc/ri’s record justifies. Nothing is stored; the number stays in your browser.
Enter a price above to run it.
The justified multiple is (return on tangible equity − growth) ÷ (cost of equity − growth). A bank earning exactly its cost of equity is worth about one times tangible book; every point of durable excess return above that is worth paying up for. Raise the cost of equity and the justified multiple falls: that is interest-rate gravity on a bank.
Tangible book $17.8B on 430M shares, a 10% normalized return on it. This is a lens, not a target. It assumes the bank keeps earning that return; a credit cycle, a rate shock or a bad acquisition changes it, which is what the record and the 10-K are for.
What the filing emphasizes, FY2025
read the 10-K →Each year a 10-K must name what could go wrong, in the company's own words. Here are the ones Graham and Buffett would stop on, each set against the figure from the same filings that bears on it, anchored to a period you can find in the record above. We point; the judgment is yours.
- Pricing power & competitionBusiness
Whether the company sets its price or takes it. Durable pricing power is the surest mark of a moat; price competition is the surest mark there isn't one.
“In addition, technology has lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-bank institutions to attract funds and provide lending and other financial products and services.”
From the recordOperating margin408.9% now (TTM), off a 473.4% peak (FY2023) - Concentrated dependenceRisk Factors
What the whole business leans on, a product, a platform, a partner. Concentration cuts both ways, and the filing is where management has to admit it.
“We believe our success depends, to a great extent, on our ability to utilize technology to offer products and services that address the needs of our customers and to create efficiencies in our operations.”
From the recordOwner-earnings margin at stake (TTM)151% - Debt terms & refinancingMD&A
The fine print behind the debt. Covenants and near-term maturities decide who is really in control when a year goes badly.
“Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 52 Education The education portfolio is primarily comprised of two products, in-school loans and education refinance loans.”
From the recordBalance sheet (TTM)$7.2B modest net debt · interest covered 1.6× - Litigation & contingenciesRisk Factors
Claims an owner inherits. Most disclosure is boilerplate; this fires only on an actual matter, a named suit, a settlement, a contingency, a number.
“In the normal course of business, we have been named, from time to time, as a defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions, and other litigation.”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself. - Regulation & policyBusiness
Rules that can rewrite the economics, tariffs, antitrust, data, export controls.
“The FRB's regulations which are applicable to BHCs, such as the Parent Company, separately define "well capitalized" as having a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6% and a Total capital ratio of at least 10%.”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself.
What changed, FY2025 vs FY2024
read the 10-K →Most of a 10-K is boilerplate carried over verbatim; the signal is in what's new. These lines appear this year and weren't there last, figure updates filtered out, so only the language shift remains.
- “However, in February 2026, the SCB effective date was moved from October 1, 2026 to October 1, 2027 because the FRB extended the notification deadlines while its enhanced transparency proposal and related stress test model changes remain under public comment and will not be finalized before the 2026…”
- “Noninterest expense of $5.3 billion increased $77 million compared to 2024, driven by salaries and employee benefits reflecting hiring related to the Private Bank and Private Wealth build-out, strong capital markets fee performance, and increased medical benefit costs, partially offset by a decline …”
- “Commercial real estate criticized balances of $3.7 billion at December 31, 2025 decreased from $4.5 billion at December 31, 2024, attributable to office, multifamily, and industrial loan upgrades driven by improved leasing and operating performance, credit-enhanced extensions, sales, and refinancing…”
- “Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 73 As of December 31, 2025, our ACL economic forecast over a two-year reasonable and supportable period reflects the economy going into a shallow two-quarter contraction inclusive of uncertainties related to the implementation of tariffs and protectionist trade polic…”
- “Unfavorable changes related to these national economic and political conditions may also result in increased delinquencies and defaults among borrowers in light of economic uncertainty, which could require us to charge off a higher percentage of loans and increase the provision for credit losses, ul…”
Classic text analysis over the filing itself, no model wrote a word of this, and every quote is the company's own.
Peers, Banks
The same industry, side by side on the bank lens, compare, don't rank by a single number.● marks best in the group.
| Company | Revenue | ROE | ROTCE | Efficiency | Net int. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEYKeycorp /new/ | $1.7B | 9% | 10% | 63% | 2.5% |
| MTBM&T Bank Corporation | $1.7B | 10% | 14% | 57% | 3.3% |
| CFGCitizens Financial Group Inc/ri | $1.6B | 7% | 10% | 64% | 2.6% |
| HBANHuntington Bancshares Incorporated | $1.6B | 9% | 12% | 61% | 2.7% |
| ALLYAlly Financial Inc. | $1.2B | 5% | 6% | 310% | — |
| FITBFifth Third Bancorp | $577M | 12% | 15% | 57% | 2.8% |
| RFRegions Financial Corporation | $104M | 11% | 16% | 57% | 3.1% |
| TFCTruist Financial Corp | — | 8% | 11% | 59% | 2.6% |