Citigroup (NYSE:C) Shares Down 10.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) shares fell 10.8% during trading on Thursday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $84.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup traded as low as $63.70 and last traded at $63.98. 13,881,371 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 13,812,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.76.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on C. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

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

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.