Citigroup (NYSE:C) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Citigroup (NYSE:C) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

C has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.53.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:C opened at $71.93 on Friday. Citigroup has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The company has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.46 and a 200-day moving average of $70.32.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth about $1,935,599,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Citigroup by 455.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,908,000 after buying an additional 25,705,141 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,754,000 after buying an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.