Citigroup (NYSE:C) Trading Down 2.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s stock price dropped 2.7% during trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $78.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Citigroup traded as low as $62.23 and last traded at $62.62. Approximately 4,818,994 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 17,853,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.33.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.50 to $75.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Core Alternative Capital lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 3.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $116.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 50 day moving average price of $71.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.91.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.