Citigroup (NYSE:C) Shares Down 0.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s stock price was down 0.3% on Monday 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 $55.51 and last traded at $57.95. Approximately 12,876,579 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 14,044,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.13.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on C. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.23.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,853,484,000 after buying an additional 667,357 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,561,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,714,359,000 after acquiring an additional 815,003 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Citigroup by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,311,048,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,908,000 after purchasing an additional 25,705,141 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $110.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.08.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.