Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Citigroup (NYSE:C) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of C stock opened at $78.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $149.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.08.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Citigroup will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of C. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,607,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,115,000 after purchasing an additional 54,782 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter valued at about $249,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 274.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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.