Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $65.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $44.00. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.30% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Carlyle Group from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cowen raised shares of Carlyle Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Carlyle Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.73.

Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of CG stock opened at $56.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a current ratio of 2.36. Carlyle Group has a 1 year low of $33.02 and a 1 year high of $57.62. The stock's 50-day moving average is $47.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.90. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.86.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $973.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $972.27 million. Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 23.78% and a net margin of 19.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts predict that Carlyle Group will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Carlyle Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carlyle Group by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,292,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,058,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,514 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Carlyle Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,778,358 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $998,609,000 after buying an additional 50,784 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Carlyle Group by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $668,990,000 after buying an additional 1,773,465 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Carlyle Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,102,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $358,687,000 after purchasing an additional 467,767 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Carlyle Group by 7.5% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,827,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $297,613,000 after purchasing an additional 476,127 shares during the period. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carlyle Group Company Profile

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.

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