Citigroup (NYSE:C) Upgraded 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.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.53.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C opened at $74.12 on Friday. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.42. The company has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $10,752,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,428,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $534,000. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 163,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.