Short Interest in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Drops By 21.8%

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,410,000 shares, a drop of 21.8% from the October 15th total of 18,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 262.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 94.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CFG traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.77. 3,793,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,305,169. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $26.13 and a fifty-two week high of $48.35. The company has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $42.07 and its 200 day moving average is $39.30.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 66.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $43.80.

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.