Citigroup (NYSE:C) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Citigroup (NYSE:C) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $67.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $128.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $77.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,935,599,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,908,000 after buying an additional 25,705,141 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares in 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.