Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Up 15.0% in January

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,720,000 shares, a growth of 15.0% from the January 15th total of 8,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of CFG stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $46.43. The company had a trading volume of 2,325,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,876,684. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.75. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $30.30 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Compass Point raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,378,632 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $147,849,000 after buying an additional 233,997 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,158,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 19,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 7,933 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 22,615 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 3,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,531,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.