Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on Citigroup with an average 1-year target of about $135.94 from 20 covering firms.
• Citigroup beat quarterly expectations — reporting $3.06 EPS vs. $2.63 expected and $24.63 billion in revenue (up 14.1% year-over-year) — and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 (1.9% yield).
• The bank is pursuing growth catalysts including raising its AI market forecast to over $4.2 trillion by 2030 and expanding its investment-banking footprint in Asia, moves that could boost fee income and advisory deal flow.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $135.9412.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on C shares. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its AI market forecast to roughly $4.2+ trillion by 2030, highlighting faster enterprise adoption and positioning the firm’s research and corporate advisory teams to capture more AI-related deal flow and trading activity. This bolsters Citi’s investor-facing credibility and could support fee income. Citi lifts AI market view
• Positive Sentiment: Citi is expanding its investment-banking footprint in Asia (adding senior hires in Japan and China) and has hired Barclays veteran James Potts to head its shareholder advisory arm — moves that should help win cross-border M&A and activism advisory mandates, supporting future fee revenue. Citi to boost Japan, China teams Citi hires Potts
• Positive Sentiment: Citi’s wealth unit (Citi Wealth) formed a strategic partnership with Advyzon to enhance its advisory platform — a targeted effort to grow high-margin wealth-management relationships and recurring fee streams. Citi strengthens advisory unit
• Neutral Sentiment: Foreign investors have rotated into TMT debt and away from financial bonds, per Citi research — a market-wide flow trend that could pressure relative demand for bank debt but is not specific to Citi’s fundamentals. Investors should monitor funding spreads and bond appetite. Foreign demand for US corporate bonds rises
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been pronounced recently (multiple senior execs sold shares in the past six months), which can spook investors even if sales are routine/for diversification. That selling likely contributes to intraday softness. QuiverQuant: insider activity & commentary

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $128.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $116.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Citigroup has a 1-year low of $66.72 and a 1-year high of $135.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. Citigroup's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 182,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.09, for a total value of $4,796,088.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 45,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,091,810.15. This represents a 48.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,318 shares of company stock valued at $10,764,814. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,048,467,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,923 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Citigroup by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,252,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,036,712,000 after buying an additional 189,548 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,196,783 shares of the company's stock worth $3,990,422,000 after buying an additional 1,326,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,887,285 shares of the company's stock worth $3,954,307,000 after buying an additional 846,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi's principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.

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