Citigroup (NYSE:C) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $83.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $80.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE C opened at $80.05 on Thursday. Citigroup has a twelve month low of $50.51 and a twelve month high of $80.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.52. The firm has a market cap of $151.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Citigroup will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after acquiring an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Citigroup by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after purchasing an additional 242,545 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.