Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Short Interest Down 14.7% in December

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,020,000 shares, a decrease of 14.7% from the December 15th total of 10,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.90% of the company's stock.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CFG traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $47.52. 6,398,775 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,051,061. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Citizens Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $30.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.10.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,962,330 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. Citizens Financial Group's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is 66.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Citizens Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.78.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.