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

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 9,343 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 196% compared to the average daily volume of 3,154 call options.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFG traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $35.92. 874,422 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,321,500. The stock has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Citizens Financial Group has a twelve month low of $22.77 and a twelve month high of $37.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.80.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens Financial Group will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFG. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Citizens Financial Group from $36.50 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.67.

Insider Activity at Citizens Financial Group

In other Citizens Financial Group news, insider Craig Jack Read sold 6,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.70, for a total value of $213,219.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,265,704.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Citizens Financial Group by 217.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,978,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $213,821,000 after buying an additional 5,465,824 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $117,372,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,709,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,332,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,333 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,472,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,642 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,955,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,011 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.