Citigroup (NYSE:C) Trading Up 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) traded up 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $62.97 and last traded at $62.97. 3,450,811 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 17,890,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 30th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.61.

Citigroup Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share 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 given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.