Citigroup (NYSE:C) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Citigroup (NYSE:C) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $109.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.3 %

C stock opened at $78.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $50.51 and a 52-week high of $79.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.32. The firm has a market cap of $148.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of C. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 339,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,538,000 after buying an additional 7,778 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 17.1% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 17,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 20.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 231,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,667,000 after acquiring an additional 39,725 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co raised its position in Citigroup by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 57,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Citigroup by 3.8% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 151,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,622,000 after acquiring an additional 5,481 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.