Citigroup (NYSE:C) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $81.02 and last traded at $81.25, with a volume of 1968497 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock 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 twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.65. The stock has a market cap of $154.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in C. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 135,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,619,000 after purchasing an additional 7,058 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 387,318 shares of the company's stock worth $24,579,000 after acquiring an additional 18,669 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2,621.3% in the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 12,382 shares of the company's stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 11,927 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 14.9% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,913 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the second quarter valued at $63,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.