Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Receives $83.93 Consensus PT from Analysts

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.93.

C has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $81.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $52.24 and a 52-week high of $82.91. The stock has a market cap of $154.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced 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 net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after buying an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% during 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,231,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Citigroup by 70.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,527 shares during 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.