Citigroup (NYSE:C) Shares Down 2.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) fell 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $56.28 and last traded at $57.13. 8,570,271 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 14,200,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

Citigroup Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. Citigroup’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. This trade represents a 11.57 % 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of C. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 352,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,844,000 after buying an additional 11,674 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,247,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,143,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970,300 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.