Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Down 9.7% in March

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,070,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the March 15th total of 20,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of Citizens Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kinneret Advisory LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 13,296 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 82,032 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 12,064 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,071 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CFG traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.02. The company had a trading volume of 6,602,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,905,633. The company has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $22.77 and a one year high of $36.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.54.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 13.19%. The company’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.02%.

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.