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Citigroup (C) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

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Citigroup (C - Free Report) closed at $125.27 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.25% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.02% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.36%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.07%.

Shares of the U.S. bank have depreciated by 1.3% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Finance sector's gain of 2.28%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.12%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Citigroup in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Citigroup is projected to report earnings of $2.59 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 32.14%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $23.15 billion, reflecting a 6.84% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $10.68 per share and a revenue of $92.9 billion, representing changes of +34% and +9.01%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Citigroup. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.56% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Citigroup is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Digging into valuation, Citigroup currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.88. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 12.86.

One should further note that C currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.57. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. C's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.92 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, finds itself in the top 41% echelons of all 250+ industries.

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

To follow C in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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