Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Citigroup (NYSE:C)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 93,383 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 25% compared to the typical volume of 74,620 call options.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Citigroup to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), signaling improved earnings expectations which can attract buyers and support the stock. All You Need to Know About Citigroup (C) Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: TradeSmith’s Health Indicator places Citigroup in the “Green Zone” for financial health, a signal used by some investors as confirmation of balance-sheet strength and lower downside risk. 3 Non-Tech Stocks in TradeSmith’s Green Zone for Financial Health (C)
• Positive Sentiment: Citi executed a product innovation milestone by issuing an inaugural digitally native structured note on Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT platform — a potential growth vector in wealth management and capital markets product distribution. Citi Issues Inaugural Digitally Native Structured Note on Euroclear’s D-FMI DLT Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg reports Blackstone is working with Citi on a revived sale of ShyaHsin Packaging — indicating Citi is advising on potential M&A activity that could generate fees and bolster investment-banking revenue. Blackstone Is Said to Work With Citi on Revived Sale of ShyaHsin Packaging
• Neutral Sentiment: Stablecoin/payments startup Kast raised $80M at a $600M valuation — a sign of active fintech competition and innovation in digital rails; this is industry context that could pressure or create partnership opportunities for banks like Citi but is not an immediate stock driver. Stablecoin payments firm Kast raises $80M at $600M valuation: Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that traditional banks may pursue legal action against the OCC over crypto charter approvals add regulatory noise for the industry; outcome and Citi’s exposure are uncertain, so this is a watch item rather than an immediate catalyst. Traditional Banks Consider Lawsuit Against OCC Over Crypto Charter Approvals
• Negative Sentiment: Citi suffered the largest fall among banks in a global gender-ranking report — a reputational/ESG hit that could weigh on investor sentiment, heighten scrutiny from ESG-focused funds, and become a longer-term cost if remediation requires investment. Citi suffers largest fall among banks in global gender ranking

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $132.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Citigroup from $141.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.25.

Citigroup Price Performance

C traded down $3.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $103.12. 10,173,657 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,910,183. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $180.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.17. Citigroup has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $125.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.79.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.16. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of C. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,788,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,915,000 after buying an additional 216,109 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $165,000. AG Campbell Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter worth $123,000. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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.