Shares of banking giant Citigroup (NYSE: C) swung up in trading after announcing adjusted third-quarter earnings of $1.52 per diluted share, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $1.23 per share. Citi also posted revenues of $20.1 billion, an increase of 9% year-over-year that beat Street forecasts of $19.3 billion.
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The higher revenues were driven by “strength across Services and Markets in Institutional Clients Group (ICG) and US Personal Banking within Personal Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM), as well as growth in Banking in ICG.”
However, the bank’s cost of credit increased to $1.8 billion in Q3 as compared to $1.4 billion in the same period last year. This rise in the cost of credit was driven by normalization in net credit losses and higher card volumes in its Personal Banking and Wealth management business.
Is Citigroup a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about Citigroup with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on seven Buys, 11 Holds, and one Sell. The average CITI price target of $50.32 implies an upside potential of 16.8% from current levels.
