Citizens Financial Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CFG)

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 4,592 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 63% compared to the average volume of 2,817 call options.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In related news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 4,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.54, for a total value of $151,198.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,902.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens Financial Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 100.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 183.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Citizens Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG opened at $35.14 on Friday. Citizens Financial Group has a 1-year low of $22.77 and a 1-year high of $36.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.95. The company has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 1.38.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). Citizens Financial Group had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. Citizens Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CFG. Citigroup lifted their target price on Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $31.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lowered Citizens Financial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Citizens Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.13.

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.