Citigroup (NYSE:C) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $95.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup traded as high as $73.73 and last traded at $73.57, with a volume of 7752924 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.00.

C has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after purchasing an additional 8,301 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 394,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,710,000 after purchasing an additional 18,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 338,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,210,000 after purchasing an additional 26,882 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $139.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.68 and its 200-day moving average is $64.84.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.86 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.

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.