Short Interest in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Declines By 7.4%

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,530,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the August 15th total of 12,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CFG. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

Insider Activity

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,429,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 134,855 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,859,000 after buying an additional 6,003 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 30,623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 200.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,035 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 206,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,431,000 after acquiring an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.5 %

CFG stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.16. 2,519,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,398,457. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.98. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.77 and a 52-week high of $43.96.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

Citizens Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking.