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

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,844,000 after purchasing an additional 11,674 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Citigroup by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE C opened at $71.08 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $53.51 and a fifty-two week high of $84.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.88 and a 200-day moving average of $70.91. The stock has a market cap of $133.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.