Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Up 19.1% in April

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 15,538,405 shares, an increase of 19.1% from the March 31st total of 13,048,547 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,305,155 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Susan Lamonica sold 13,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total value of $769,494.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 165,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,632,956.84. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,289,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,982,532,000 after purchasing an additional 614,181 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,064,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,279,270,000 after purchasing an additional 393,158 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $661,052,000 after purchasing an additional 32,264 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,217,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $655,242,000 after purchasing an additional 298,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,000,750 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Citizens Financial Group stock traded down $0.60 on Friday, reaching $64.45. 2,614,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,538,892. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.26 and its 200-day moving average is $58.83. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $37.88 and a one year high of $68.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $27.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays set a $77.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

About Citizens Financial Group

Citizens Financial Group, Inc (NYSE: CFG) is a bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, corporations and institutional clients. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens conducts its banking operations principally through its primary banking subsidiary, Citizens Bank, and serves customers through a combination of branch locations, ATMs and digital channels. The company is publicly traded and operates under the regulatory framework applicable to U.S.