Banking, finance, and taxes

What to Expect When Citigroup Reports Thursday

Chris Lange

Published: October 10, 2017 1:15 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 7:20 am

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly earnings report before the markets open on Thursday. Citigroup, along with JPMorgan, will be the first of the major banks to report earnings and kick off the season.

Overall, the financial sector has been in the middle of the pack in terms of performance, but the major banks have been a huge contributing factor for keeping things up to par. Looking even farther back, the financial sector is the best performing over the past 52 weeks and is a large factor in the market rally we have seen of late.

As for Citigroup, Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.32 in earnings per share (EPS) and $17.85 billion in revenue. The third quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.24 and $17.76 billion in revenue.

Citigroup is still trading at a very cheap 10 times estimated 2018 earnings, and the bank looks very reasonable in what is becoming a pricey stock market. Compared to in its most recent quarterly report, the stock still trades at a discount to its book value $77.36, which no other major bank can claim.

This top bank has broken out of a long trading range and could push even higher. Over the past year, Citigroup has outperformed the U.S. broad markets and the financial sector with its stock up 27% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up 53%.

Citigroup has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. It offers broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services and wealth management.

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Ahead of the earnings report a few analysts weighed in on Citigroup:

• Stifel has a Hold rating.
• Credit Suisse has a Buy rating with an $83 price target.
• BMO Capital Markets has a Hold rating and a $65 price target.
• JPMorgan has an Overweight rating with a $78.50 price target.
• Wells Fargo has a Buy rating.

Shares of Citigroup were last seen trading at $75.03, with a consensus analyst price target of $75.09 and a 52-week trading range of $47.54 to $76.02.