Truist Financial Cuts Citigroup (NYSE:C) Price Target to $154.00

Citigroup (NYSE:C) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $158.00 to $154.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.53% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Citigroup from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Citigroup from $135.50 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Citigroup from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.76.

Citigroup Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $133.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Citigroup has a 12-month low of $87.94 and a 12-month high of $147.96. The company has a market capitalization of $227.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $134.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.11.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $24.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. TD Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 197.6% in the first quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 244 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup beat Wall Street expectations with Q2 earnings of $3.15 per share and revenue of about $24.8 billion, helped by strong fixed income trading and investment banking fees, marking the bank’s highest quarterly revenue in a decade. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said Citi is using the stronger quarter to accelerate investments aimed at supporting more durable returns, reinforcing confidence in its long-term turnaround strategy. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also highlighted ongoing transformation work and a push to improve technology and operating efficiency, which may help future profitability but could take time to show up in results. Barron’s article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, the stock moved lower as investors focused on the possibility of higher expenses, faster job cuts, and pressure on second-half profitability. Economic Times article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple post-earnings headlines emphasized that Citi’s strong quarter may not fully offset concerns about restructuring costs and expense growth, which is weighing on sentiment today. Benzinga article

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.