Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.93.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on C shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Core Alternative Capital boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.5 %

C stock opened at $81.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $52.24 and a 52-week high of $82.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.63. The firm has a market cap of $154.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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

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.