Citigroup (NYSE:C) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Barclays now has a $95.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $70.00. Citigroup traded as high as $73.73 and last traded at $73.57, with a volume of 7752924 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on C. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Citigroup during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $137.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its 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. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

About Citigroup

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.