Citigroup (NYSE:C) Issues Earnings Results

Citigroup (NYSE:C) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.20, Zacks reports. Citigroup had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 10.23%.

Citigroup Price Performance

C opened at $131.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $133.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.57. Citigroup has a 12-month low of $95.00 and a 12-month high of $147.96. The firm has a market cap of $224.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 28.94%.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup is expected to report third-quarter earnings before the market opens, with consensus estimates calling for approximately $2.62 in EPS and $23.72 billion in revenue. A beat or constructive outlook could support the stock, particularly after the company’s previous quarter exceeded expectations with $3.15 per share in earnings and 14.5% year-over-year revenue growth. Citigroup Q3 Earnings Report Preview
• Positive Sentiment: An investor letter highlighted Citigroup’s improving return on tangible common equity as a key part of the long-term recovery thesis. The view supports optimism that ongoing restructuring and efficiency efforts can improve shareholder returns. Citigroup Rebounding Return on Tangible Common Equity
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup’s research and investment-banking operations remain active: the bank initiated or adjusted coverage on several companies and upgraded JetBlue while downgrading Xerox. These actions may generate client activity and fees, but they are not direct changes to Citigroup’s earnings outlook. Citigroup Downgrades Xerox
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that higher government-bond yields could pressure bank funding costs, lending growth and dealmaking during earnings season. Citigroup is also working to accelerate the resolution of long-standing regulatory requirements, creating an ongoing execution and compliance overhang. Citigroup Seeks to Speed Up Regulatory Efforts
• Negative Sentiment: Citi card data showed U.S. luxury spending fell 6% year over year in September and 5% for the third quarter, signaling weaker discretionary demand that could weigh on card spending and consumer-related fee revenue. U.S. Luxury Spending Falls in September

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on C shares. HSBC assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Monday, September 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $164.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $142.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.28.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol C. Through its subsidiaries and businesses, Citi provides banking, lending, investment, payments, wealth management and other financial services to consumers, businesses, governments and institutional clients.

Citi’s principal businesses include Services, which supports institutional clients with treasury, trade, securities services and related solutions; Markets, which provides sales, trading, research and financing services; Banking, which offers investment banking and corporate banking; and Wealth, which provides private banking and wealth management.