Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Receives $80.13 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.13.

C has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Citigroup from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Citigroup Trading Up 6.8 %

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $78.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup has a 52 week low of $50.51 and a 52 week high of $79.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of C. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd 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. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 96.1% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 3,952,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,821,000 after buying an additional 1,937,038 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Citigroup by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,692,000 after buying an additional 1,865,628 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after buying an additional 1,731,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,120 shares during the last quarter. 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.