Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Up 12.8% in September

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 14,270,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the September 15th total of 12,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 2.4 %

CFG stock opened at $42.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $44.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.97. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.07.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $170,357.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CFG. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,422,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,886 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 3,234.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,100,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,669,000 after buying an additional 1,067,971 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 680.1% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 803,919 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,804,000 after buying an additional 700,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,429,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,550,000 after buying an additional 587,115 shares during the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CFG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.07.

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.