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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of a large 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 673.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 889 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE CFG traded up $1.07 on Wednesday, hitting $41.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,273,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,726,230. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.17. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $32.06 and a one year high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:CFG) last posted its 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. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.45%.

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.