Citigroup (NYSE:C) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their outperform rating on shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $92.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $96.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.61.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.23. 14,653,830 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,419,522. Citigroup has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.92.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Core Alternative Capital lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

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.