Citigroup Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:C)

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 591,300 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 213% compared to the average volume of 188,627 call options.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.1 %

C stock opened at $61.50 on Friday. Citigroup has a 52 week low of $38.17 and a 52 week high of $63.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.48. The company has a market capitalization of $117.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.49.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.29. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $21.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on C. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Citigroup from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Citigroup from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,756,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,881,805,000 after acquiring an additional 4,620,867 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,755,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,283 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,051,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,710,000 after purchasing an additional 232,652 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 17,775,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $867,599,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citigroup

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.