Traders Buy High Volume of Citizens Financial Group Call Options (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 7,343 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 222% compared to the average daily volume of 2,278 call options.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CFG opened at $44.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $30.30 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CFG shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 16.3% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 39.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 8,579 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 16.6% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 118,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,859,000 after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 104,219 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,280,000 after acquiring an additional 27,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 275,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens Financial Group

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.