Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Down 11.3% in June

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a significant decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,900,000 shares, a decline of 11.3% from the May 31st total of 8,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CFG shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Citizens Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total transaction of $213,219.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,265,704.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the 1st 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. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,465,824 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,504,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,562,000 after purchasing an additional 95,292 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,532,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,268,000 after purchasing an additional 332,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CFG traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,516,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,329. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $37.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend 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.