Short Interest in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) Decreases By 24.5%

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,180,000 shares, a decrease of 24.5% from the March 15th total of 12,160,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CFG shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $45.00 price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $58.00) on shares of Citizens Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.18.

Citizens Financial Group Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE CFG traded up $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $37.43. The company had a trading volume of 4,389,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,791,341. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.25 and its 200 day moving average is $43.49. Citizens Financial Group has a 52-week low of $32.60 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.81.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Citizens Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $243,431,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,570,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $462,547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,040 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,683,111 shares of the bank's stock valued at $423,733,000 after buying an additional 1,672,204 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens Financial Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,186,364 shares of the bank's stock worth $270,715,000 after buying an additional 1,507,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,483,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.