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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.53.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.2 %

C opened at $71.93 on Friday. Citigroup has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.26. 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 market cap of $135.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Citigroup will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value 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 represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of C. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.