Citigroup (NYSE:C) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday, following an upgrade from Oppenheimer, which raised its price target for the stock from $91.00 to $107.00. Currently, Oppenheimer has an outperform rating on Citigroup. The stock peaked at $69.41 and ended the day at $69.24, with a trading volume of 2,324,027 shares. This is a significant increase from its previous close of $63.67.

Analyst Ratings and Target Prices

In addition to Oppenheimer's upgrade, several other analysts have recently shared their insights on Citigroup. Barclays boosted their target price from $63.00 to $70.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating as of October 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target from $63.00 to $65.00, supporting a "market perform" rating on July 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target from $70.00 to $73.00 and assigned an "overweight" rating on July 15th. Argus also raised its target from $70.00 to $72.00, supporting a "buy" rating on the same day. Meanwhile, Bank of America increased its target from $77.00 to $78.00, also rating it as a "buy" on October 16th. Currently, one analyst rates the stock as a sell, six as holds, and eleven as buys, yielding a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $72.06, according to MarketBeat.

Institutional Investment Activity

Recent trading activity shows significant changes in institutional holdings for Citigroup. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position by 13.3% in the second quarter, now holding 73,317 shares valued at approximately $4,653,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC also raised its holdings by 13.4% in the first quarter, owning 201,456 shares now valued at roughly $12,739,000. Additionally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake worth about $3,861,000, while Advisory Services Network LLC increased their holdings by 23.8% in the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC also took a new position valued at around $735,000. Overall, 71.72% of Citigroup's stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Recent Performance and Financials

Citigroup has reported a growth of 9.5% in its stock value recently. The stock has been trending above its fifty-day moving average of $61.98 and its 200-day moving average of $62.19. Financially, the company's current ratio stands at 0.96, and its quick ratio is at 0.94, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Citigroup's market capitalization is approximately $133.05 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46 and a PEG ratio of 0.71.

Quarterly Earnings Report

On October 15th, Citigroup revealed its quarterly earnings data, reporting an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.51, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.20. The company achieved a return on equity (ROE) of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. Citigroup's revenue reached $20.32 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate of $19.86 billion. This marks a 0.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Dividend Announcement

Additionally, Citigroup announced a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, scheduled for payment on November 22nd to investors on record as of November 4th. The ex-dividend date is also November 4th. This dividend represents an annualized figure of $2.24, translating to a yield of 3.21%, with a payout ratio of 64.93%.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc. is a diversified financial services holding company that offers a wide range of financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions globally. The company operates through five key segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth.

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