Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.1875.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $135.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Citigroup from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday.

Citigroup News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup’s rates desk warns markets are “too calm” about U.S. inflation — a view that implies higher‑for‑longer rates and could support banks’ net interest income (a key earnings driver). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi is expanding tokenized products to Solana, signaling growth in its digital‑assets and tokenization business — a potential revenue/fee diversification play if adoption rises. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi India management flagged trade‑deal driven investment opportunities — incremental international growth that could help long‑term revenue expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: The Fed is re‑calibrating supervision toward core financial stability and may ease some prior “matters requiring attention” (MRAs) — potentially lowering regulatory friction for large banks over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi’s incoming CFO publicly warned that a credit‑card rate cap would harm retail/travel/hospitality — a policy stance that, if it helps prevent restrictive caps, would protect card revenue and fees. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi presented at major conferences (BoA, UBS); transcripts provide management commentary on strategy but no game‑changing guidance this round. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Jane Fraser’s 2025 compensation was set at $42M (about $7.5M higher year‑over‑year). The pay increase — coming after layoffs — creates negative optics and shareholder pushback risk, which can weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Citi filed to create a new 6.5% Series JJ preferred stock — a capital‑raising tool that strengthens the balance sheet but can be seen as incremental claim senior to common equity and thus dilutive to common shareholders’ risk profile. Read More.

Citigroup Stock Down 5.3%

NYSE:C opened at $111.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.18. Citigroup has a 52 week low of $55.51 and a 52 week high of $125.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.35 and a 200-day moving average of $104.55.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.16. Citigroup had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm had revenue of $19.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Citigroup in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,455,929,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,048,467,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 17.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,125,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,854,788,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,099 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 6.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,797,292,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 6,172.0% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,904,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,481 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.