Citigroup's (C) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reiterated its outperform rating on Citigroup and kept a $150 price target, implying about 11.47% upside from the prior close.
• Citigroup stock was up 1.0% to $134.57, while the broader analyst view remains constructive: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $145.67.
• The bank recently delivered a Q2 earnings beat, reporting $3.15 EPS and $24.75 billion in revenue, both above estimates, supported by strong trading and investment banking results.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.47% from the company's previous close.

C has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Citigroup from $135.50 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Evercore set a $143.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Citigroup from $158.00 to $154.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.0%

C stock traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $134.57. The company had a trading volume of 5,730,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,663,857. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $229.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11. Citigroup has a fifty-two week low of $87.94 and a fifty-two week high of $147.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of C. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,800,944,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company's stock worth $19,048,467,000 after buying an additional 4,938,923 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $298,082,000. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at $252,972,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 291.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,319,549 shares of the company's stock worth $153,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008,946 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reported a strong Q2 beat, with EPS of $3.15 versus expectations around $2.72-$2.74 and revenue of about $24.8 billion, both above Wall Street estimates. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Results were boosted by strong fixed income trading and investment banking, and Citi said Q2 revenue was its highest in a decade, showing momentum across its core businesses. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said the strong quarter reflects a stronger franchise and that it is using the momentum to accelerate investments aimed at supporting more durable returns, which supports the long-term turnaround thesis. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts raised or lowered price targets modestly, but maintained bullish ratings, suggesting expectations remain constructive even after the earnings release. Benzinga article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, the stock sold off as investors worried that higher expenses and increased spending could pressure second-half profitability. Economic Times article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that CEO Jane Fraser may speed up job cuts added to concerns that Citi’s transformation still carries execution and cost risks. NewsBytes article

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.

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