Citigroup (NYSE:C) Trading Down 3.9% – Should You Sell?

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s stock price traded down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $60.50 and last traded at $61.67. 6,588,993 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 14,346,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on C shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

Citigroup Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.93. The firm has a market cap of $115.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 10.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,094,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,539,000 after buying an additional 102,806 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Citigroup by 3.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 80,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,025,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 39,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 112,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Company Profile

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.