Citizens Financial Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 9,343 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 196% compared to the typical volume of 3,154 call options.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,558 shares in the company, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Old Port Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 49.3% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 26,735 shares of the bank’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 8,826 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Citizens Financial Group by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 3,434 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 396.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 128,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,676,000 after buying an additional 102,899 shares during the period. Finally, Invst LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $1,637,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFG has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.67.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CFG opened at $35.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.77 and a 12 month high of $37.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.80.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

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.