Citigroup (NYSE:C) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $134.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Citigroup traded as high as $124.68 and last traded at $124.1880, with a volume of 2906740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.69.

C has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Citigroup from $115.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $118.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.19.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Citigroup from $130 to $134 and reaffirmed an “overweight” rating, a direct catalyst that can prompt buy interest and supports upside expectations. JPMorgan raises Citigroup price target
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/market writeups name Citi among top investment‑banking picks after solid Q4 earnings and improving trading/deal activity, reinforcing the narrative that Citi can benefit from a rebound in markets and fees. Zacks: 3 Must-Buy Investment Banks
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi is acting as a joint global coordinator on the UI Boustead REIT IPO in Singapore, which can add fee revenue and Asia deal flow exposure but is unlikely to move the stock materially on its own. UI Boustead REIT premarketing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysis on Citi’s valuation highlights new preferred‑stock and bond issuances that are reshaping its capital mix — this affects leverage and investor returns but the ultimate impact depends on issuance size, costs and how management deploys proceeds. Valuation: preferred stock and bond issuances
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market stress in commercial real estate — office CMBS defaults hitting new highs — is a sector risk for banks; rising CRE delinquencies could pressure loan performance and increase reserves, which is a potential headwind for Citi if exposure proves significant. Office CMBS defaults rise

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 166.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 20.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 16.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 14.4% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,860,000 after buying an additional 5,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the second quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.9%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.69 and a 200-day moving average of $104.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $221.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

About Citigroup

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.