Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock Price Up 1.1% – What’s Next?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s share price traded up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $71.13 and last traded at $71.30. 1,779,596 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 13,783,115 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.86.

Citigroup Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $134.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.66 and a 200-day moving average of $71.00.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Core Alternative Capital raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.