Short Interest in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Increases By 44.2%

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,240,000 shares, an increase of 44.2% from the March 31st total of 9,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $37.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.60 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CFG. Citigroup decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $51.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.18.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Citizens Financial Group by 21.7% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Citizens Financial Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 621,321 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,456,000 after purchasing an additional 26,738 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $410,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 12.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 107,788 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,427,000 after buying an additional 11,521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.