Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock

Citigroup (NYSE:C) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $109.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 36.16% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial began coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $80.05 on Thursday. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $50.51 and a 52-week high of $80.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of C. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% in the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after purchasing an additional 242,545 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.