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Citigroup (C) Laps the Stock Market: Here's Why

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Citigroup (C - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $107.79, demonstrating a +1% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.11%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.07%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.22%.

Shares of the U.S. bank have appreciated by 4.95% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Finance sector's gain of 2.7%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.08%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Citigroup in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.79, showcasing a 33.58% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $21.07 billion, showing a 7.58% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.6 per share and revenue of $86.29 billion, which would represent changes of +27.73% and +6.35%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Citigroup. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.03% higher within the past month. Citigroup is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Citigroup is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 14.03. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 17.12.

We can additionally observe that C currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.55. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As the market closed yesterday, the Financial - Investment Bank industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.11.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 27, this industry ranks in the top 11% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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