Citigroup (NYSE:C) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. 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 boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four research 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.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $70.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Citigroup has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.06 and a 200-day moving average of $70.81.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. 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 earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,844,000 after acquiring an additional 11,674 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after buying an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. 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.