Citigroup (NYSE:C) Price Target Raised to $153.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Citigroup to $153 (from $140) and kept an outperform rating, implying roughly a 17.7% upside from current levels.
• Citigroup's board authorized a $30 billion share buyback (about 13.7% of shares outstanding), a capital-return move that supports EPS and signals management views the stock as undervalued.
• The company reported a strong quarter, posting $3.06 EPS (vs. $2.63 expected) and $24.63 billion in revenue, up 14.1% year‑over‑year.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $140.00 to $153.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.65% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on C. Evercore set a $139.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $139.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.56.

Citigroup Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of C stock opened at $130.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $117.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.01. 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 twelve month low of $70.95 and a twelve month high of $135.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.09, for a total transaction of $4,796,088.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,091,810.15. The trade was a 48.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,318 shares of company stock worth $10,764,814. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 4,938,923 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company's stock worth $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,196,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,990,422,000 after buying an additional 1,326,224 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,887,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,954,307,000 after buying an additional 846,772 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes a $30 billion multiyear share buyback (up to ~13.7% of shares), which supports EPS and signals management thinks the stock is undervalued. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary from Street analysts (e.g., Wells Fargo’s Mike Mayo calling Citi a top pick) is helping sentiment and may attract buyers. CNBC: Mike Mayo on Citi
• Positive Sentiment: Management pushed an AI‑first operating strategy (cards, payments, wealth) and customer repositioning toward affluent segments — a growth story investors can buy into if execution sticks. PYMNTS: Citi rebuilds cards around affluent customers and AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor Day set a near‑term adjusted ROTCE target of 11%–13% for 2027–2028 — a clear improvement path but below some investors’ hopes, making the announcement a mixed catalyst. Reuters: Citigroup targets 11-13% ROTCE
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi adjusted the terms of several note tender offers (increasing waterfall cap/pricing terms) — a balance‑sheet/liability management move with limited near‑term share‑price impact. Financial Post: Citi increases waterfall cap on note offers
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators called Citi’s medium‑term profitability targets underwhelming (and the guidance disappointed expectations), which pressured the stock in parts of the session. That creates near‑term volatility until management proves execution. Quartz: Profit targets disappoint
• Negative Sentiment: Citi was named in a funds‑transfer lawsuit by HY Energy, introducing legal/operational risk headlines that could be a short‑term drag if escalated. Yahoo: Market Chatter on suit vs Citi

About Citigroup

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.