Piper Sandler Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Citigroup (NYSE:C)

Citigroup (NYSE:C)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $83.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.83% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on C. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.80.

Citigroup Price Performance

Citigroup stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.43. 8,618,412 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,412,332. Citigroup has a 1-year low of $50.51 and a 1-year high of $79.25. The firm has a market cap of $148.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.32. 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 (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,270,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Citigroup by 4.9% during the third 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 during 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.