16 Most Undervalued Stocks to Buy Now

4) Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Forward P/E as of August 22: 10.70x

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 85

Expected EPS Growth this Year: 40.6%

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is a global financial services company doing business in over 100 countries and jurisdictions. Its operations are organized into 2 primary segments: the global consumer banking segment and the institutional clients group.

The banking company’s restructuring appears to be well underway. In March, it had sold or wound down 9 of its 14 consumer franchises. Its Mexico consumer business is on track for the planned IPO by the next year. Therefore, it continues to make progress, and the stock trades at a discount, making it an appealing opportunity. The stock trades at ~10.7x its forward earnings, well below the sectoral average of ~16.5x.

In 2Q 2024, it saw a net income of $3.2 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52. Its revenues went up by 4%, with healthy growth in its Services, Markets, Wealth, and US Personal Banking divisions. The banking company has been focusing on normalizing credit costs and expects losses to decline in the medium term. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) anticipates seeing a decline in its expenses in 2H 2024. Therefore, its outlook appears to be promising.

Analysts at Piper Sandler initiated the coverage of the shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), raising the price target from $70.00 to $73.00. They gave an “Overweight” rating on 15^th July.

Diamond Hill Capital, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2024 investor letter and mentioned Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C). Here is what the fund said:

“Other top Q1 contributors included Meta Platforms, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Walt Disney. Banking and financial services company Citigroup’s restructuring efforts are ongoing, and it continues remediating regulatory issues and building capital in anticipation of increased requirements. The company expects to see expenses fall meaningfully in the second half of 2024, bolstering the outlook from here.”