Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.00.

C has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Citigroup from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Citigroup Stock Down 0.6 %

C stock opened at $68.62 on Wednesday. Citigroup has a twelve month low of $44.56 and a twelve month high of $70.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $129.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.71.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.86 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the first quarter valued at about $1,447,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 28.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 97,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,154,000 after acquiring an additional 21,684 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 63.2% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 15,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 5,840 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at $273,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the first quarter worth about $192,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.