Short Interest in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Drops By 14.7%

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,020,000 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the December 31st total of 10,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CFG. DA Davidson upped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Citizens Financial Group stock opened at $48.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $30.24 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.28. 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 (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.45%.

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.