Citigroup (NYSE:C) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.80 and last traded at $93.33, with a volume of 16590582 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $93.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on C shares. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer set a $123.00 price objective on Citigroup and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citigroup from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.46.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $175.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. Citigroup had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The company had revenue of $21.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from Citigroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of Citigroup 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 owned 13,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $890,656.48. This trade represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total value of $271,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at $193,456. This trade represents a 58.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 6.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,101,459 shares of the company's stock worth $2,917,794,000 after buying an additional 2,539,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,587,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,853,484,000 after purchasing an additional 667,357 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,418,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,832,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,311,048,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,206,908,000 after purchasing an additional 25,705,141 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.

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