Citigroup (NYSE:C) Shares Down 7.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) shares dropped 7.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $84.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup traded as low as $56.31 and last traded at $58.16. Approximately 18,613,390 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 34% from the average daily volume of 13,918,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.05.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on C. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Core Alternative Capital increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.61 and a 200-day moving average of $70.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (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. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.