Citigroup (NYSE:C) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $98.38 and last traded at $97.27, with a volume of 12237036 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Citigroup from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Citigroup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.96.

Citigroup Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $183.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $21.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.75 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.44%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Citigroup has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 35.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director Peter B. Henry sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.40, for a total transaction of $271,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,140 shares in the company, valued at $193,456. This trade represents a 58.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,851,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,117,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,451 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,957,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,645,084,000 after acquiring an additional 411,894 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Citigroup by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,101,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,917,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,769 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,290,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,748,571,000 after acquiring an additional 679,967 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 32,161,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,737,583,000 after acquiring an additional 988,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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.