Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Update

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,650,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the August 31st total of 11,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.60.

Insider Transactions at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after buying an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,580,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,106,000 after buying an additional 113,300 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,550,000 after buying an additional 587,115 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,909,000 after buying an additional 1,682,886 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,625,128 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,722,000 after buying an additional 480,129 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG traded down $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $39.91. The company had a trading volume of 5,415,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,399,405. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $43.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.12 and a 200-day moving average of $37.49.

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

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 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.