Citigroup (NYSE:C) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously 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 increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $70.28 on Friday. Citigroup has a 12 month low of $53.51 and a 12 month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.81. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Citigroup news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the 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 directly 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 216.3% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 8,197 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $316,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Citigroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Citigroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $919,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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.