By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C – Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 178,445 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 118,812 call options.
Citigroup Trading Up 7.5 %
NYSE C traded up $5.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.99. The stock had a trading volume of 36,298,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,450,320. The company has a market capitalization of $149.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Citigroup has a twelve month low of $50.51 and a twelve month high of $79.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.22.
Citigroup (NYSE:C – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.
Citigroup Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 64.93%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citigroup
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after buying an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after buying an additional 913,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% in the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after acquiring an additional 242,545 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have issued reports on C. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Citigroup from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.13.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Citigroup
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.
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