Wall Street Zen Downgrades Citigroup (NYSE:C) to Sell

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Citigroup (NYSE:C - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on C. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.97.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C traded up $2.33 on Friday, hitting $75.42. 12,141,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,544,564. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.71 and a 200-day moving average of $72.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $140.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. Citigroup has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Citigroup in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citigroup by 106.0% in the first quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. 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.