Short Interest in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Expands By 10.0%

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,550,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the October 31st total of 30,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in Citigroup by 34.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 160.4% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 4,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $71.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,059,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,360,361. Citigroup has a 52 week low of $46.40 and a 52 week high of $72.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $135.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.19.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.20. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on C shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $75.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Citigroup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.00.

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.