Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.00.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Citigroup from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Citigroup by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,716,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,005,749,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525,484 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Citigroup by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,007,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,904,262,000 after acquiring an additional 250,716 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company's stock worth $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C stock traded down $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $68.28. The company had a trading volume of 10,457,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,429,116. Citigroup has a 12-month low of $44.56 and a 12-month high of $70.20. The stock has a market cap of $129.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $63.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.71.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.20. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $20.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Citigroup will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Citigroup's payout ratio is currently 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.