Citigroup (C) vs. The Competition Critical Contrast

Citigroup (NYSE:C) is one of 925 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Citigroup to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Citigroup and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Citigroup	$91.38 billion	$14.31 billion	14.99
Citigroup Competitors	$177.75 billion	$2.39 billion	22.47

Citigroup’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Citigroup. Citigroup is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.7% of Citigroup shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Citigroup shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Citigroup has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Citigroup’s competitors have a beta of 0.51, suggesting that their average share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Citigroup and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Citigroup	10.23%	10.15%	0.72%
Citigroup Competitors	14.93%	9.46%	0.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Citigroup and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Citigroup	0	4	13	2	2.89
Citigroup Competitors	7361	29674	27085	1357	2.34

Citigroup presently has a consensus target price of $145.22, suggesting a potential upside of 4.61%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 10.40%. Given Citigroup’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Citigroup has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Citigroup pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Citigroup pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.8% and pay out 29.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Citigroup has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

Citigroup beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Markets segment offers sales and trading services for equities, foreign exchange, rates, spread products, and commodities to corporate, institutional, and public sector clients; and market-making services, including asset classes, risk management solutions, financing, prime brokerage, research, securities clearing, and settlement. The banking segment includes investment banking; advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and corporate defense activities; and corporate lending, which includes corporate and commercial banking. The U.S. Personal Banking segment provides co-branded cards and retail banking services. The Wealth segment provides financial services to high-net-worth clients through banking, lending, mortgages, investment, custody, and trust product offerings; and to professional industries, including law firms, consulting groups, accounting, and asset management. The company was founded in 1812 and is headquartered in New York, New York.