Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.25.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler set a $135.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $118.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Citigroup from $141.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, insider Cantu Ernesto Torres sold 43,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.09, for a total transaction of $4,796,088.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,091,810.15. The trade was a 48.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,851,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,117,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,451 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Citigroup by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,797,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871,074 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,252,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,036,712,000 after acquiring an additional 189,548 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Citigroup by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,196,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,990,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,887,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,954,307,000 after purchasing an additional 846,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual bullish options flow: traders bought a large block of call options (93,383 contracts, ~25% above the daily average), signaling short-term bullish positioning or hedging by institutional players that can lift near-term demand for the shares.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Citigroup to a Rank #2 (Buy), citing improved earnings prospects — analyst upgrades can attract fresh inflows and support price momentum. All You Need to Know About Citigroup (C) Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: TradeSmith flagged Citigroup in its “Green Zone” for financial health, reinforcing investor perception of balance-sheet strength and supporting dividend/total-return narratives. 3 Non-Tech Stocks in TradeSmith’s Green Zone for Financial Health (C)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/technology innovation: Citi issued the first digitally native structured note on Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT platform — a signal that the bank is leveraging new infrastructure for capital-markets and wealth-management clients, which could support fee revenue growth. Citi Issues Inaugural Digitally Native Structured Note on Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT Platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Advisory role on M&A: Bloomberg reports Blackstone working with Citi on a revived sale of ShyaHsin Packaging — a recurring advisory engagement can boost fee income but is transaction-dependent. Blackstone Is Said to Work With Citi on Revived Sale of ShyaHsin Packaging
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/regulatory backdrop: Reports that traditional banks may challenge OCC crypto charter approvals highlight ongoing regulatory friction in fintech/crypto policy — a sector-level risk that could influence Citi if it ramps crypto activity or advisory work. Traditional Banks Consider Lawsuit Against OCC Over Crypto Charter Approvals
• Neutral Sentiment: Stablecoin ecosystem funding: large raises for payments/crypto firms (e.g., Kast) show continued fintech competition and infrastructure build — both potential partners and competitors for bank services. Stablecoin payments firm Kast raises $80M at $600M valuation: Report
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG concern: Citi posted the largest fall among banks in a global gender ranking, which could draw investor scrutiny on diversity and governance metrics and pressure ESG-focused funds or corporate reputation. Citi suffers largest fall among banks in global gender ranking

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $106.62 on Tuesday. Citigroup has a one year low of $55.51 and a one year high of $125.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.16. Citigroup had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm had revenue of $19.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.