Citigroup (NYSE:C) Sets New 52-Week High After Strong Earnings

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $76.83 and last traded at $76.69, with a volume of 4927019 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.50.

The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 4.5% during the third quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 7.1% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management grew its position in Citigroup by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 12,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 67,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,209,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $147.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.22.

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.