Citigroup's (C) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $77.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $83.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on C. StockNews.com cut Citigroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.61.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.23. 14,653,830 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,419,522. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.12 and its 200-day moving average is $70.92. The stock has a market cap of $119.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. Citigroup has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Research analysts expect that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.7% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 72,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,566,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 6.7% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 202,691 shares of the company's stock worth $12,617,000 after acquiring an additional 12,810 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 24.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Citigroup by 36.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 432.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 38,191 shares of the company's stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 31,020 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.