Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Down 7.4% in August

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,530,000 shares, a decrease of 7.4% from the August 15th total of 12,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Citizens Financial Group stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.16. 2,519,871 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,398,457. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.98. The firm has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.08. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $43.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 10.74%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 3,938 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,454,401.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,580,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,106,000 after buying an additional 113,300 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% in the second 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 61.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 15.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,625,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $130,722,000 after acquiring an additional 480,129 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.20.

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.