Citigroup (NYSE:C) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $110.25 and last traded at $108.85, with a volume of 11376124 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $108.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Citigroup from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of Citigroup from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.70.

Citigroup Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $194.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.22 and a 200-day moving average of $93.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.35. Citigroup had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $22.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of C. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Citigroup in the second quarter worth $2,455,929,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 13,713,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,523,000 after purchasing an additional 6,026,268 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,125,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,788,000 after buying an additional 4,211,099 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Citigroup by 6.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Citigroup by 6,172.0% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,904,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,838,000 after buying an additional 2,858,481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.