Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,070,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the March 15th total of 20,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Citizens Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered shares of Citizens Financial Group from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.88.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of CFG traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,850,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,891,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Citizens Financial Group has a 12-month low of $22.77 and a 12-month high of $36.38. The stock has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $33.20 and its 200 day moving average is $30.50.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. Citizens Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,592,192 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,749,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,392 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 35,157,079 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,165,106,000 after buying an additional 1,199,158 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,577,041 shares of the bank's stock valued at $776,775,000 after acquiring an additional 241,869 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 76.0% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,002,482 shares of the bank's stock worth $861,383,000 after acquiring an additional 8,203,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,297,989 shares of the bank's stock worth $720,392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company's stock.

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.