Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Up 22.8% in March

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,160,000 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 9,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CFG. Capital World Investors grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,900,115 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,570,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,838 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,826,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,060,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,929,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $477,043,000 after purchasing an additional 124,860 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $423,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,204 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.06.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFG traded down $4.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.56. 2,433,034 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,716,219. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $32.06 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.26 and its 200 day moving average is $44.15.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.