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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,020,000 shares, a drop 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 currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised Citizens Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.78.

Citizens Financial Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CFG opened at $47.52 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.10. Citizens Financial Group has a one year low of $30.24 and a one year high of $49.25.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,962,330 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Citizens Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CFG. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors 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.