Citizens Financial Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CFG)

Posted by on May 5th, 2023

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 7,613 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the average daily volume of 4,546 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Shivan S. Subramaniam acquired 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.79 per share, for a total transaction of $95,007.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 66,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,711.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Shivan S. Subramaniam bought 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.79 per share, for a total transaction of $95,007.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,907,711.77. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin Cummings sold 81,151 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $3,603,104.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,237,031.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Citizens Financial Group by 23.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 29.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 53,879 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 12,350 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 57,027 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 9.3% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 71,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 6,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Citizens Financial Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 38,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. 88.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CFG. Barclays cut their price target on Citizens Financial Group from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. StockNews.com began coverage on Citizens Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Citizens Financial Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.78.

Citizens Financial Group Price Performance

CFG stock opened at $24.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.75. Citizens Financial Group has a 1 year low of $23.37 and a 1 year high of $44.82.

Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The bank reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Citizens Financial Group had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 21.12%. Citizens Financial Group’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Citizens Financial Group will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Financial Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.15 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citizens Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.76%. Citizens Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.48%.

Citizens Financial Group Company Profile

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Citizens Financial Group, Inc engages in the provision of commercial banking services. It operates through the Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking segments. The Consumer Banking segment includes deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending, student loans, auto financing, credit cards, business loans, and wealth management and investment services.

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