Citigroup Shares Hamstrung Since Report

New York (TheStreet) -- Citigroup's (C Quote) stock has languished in recent weeks, exemplifying the continued troubles of the big financial firm and observers say they don't foresee a recovery in the shares any time soon.

Shares of Citi, which dipped below $1 in early March, ran up in the back half of summer as the financial institution executed a $58 billion preferred-to-common stock exchange beginning in late July. A summer market rally in the broad market was a contributing factor, and the bank sector on the whole did well.

The share swap was formally completed on Sept. 10, but Citi's stock topped out on Aug. 28 at $5.23. Shortly after that the shares pulled back and have mostly hovered in the upper $4 range. But since Oct. 14, the day before the company reported its third-quarter results registering a small profit, the stock is off nearly 20% and just this week closed below $4 for the first time since August 12.

The Citi Trade

Other big banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), Wells Fargo (WFC Quote), even U.S. Bancorp (USB Quote) have seen their shares rise in the double digits on a percentage basis since July. Bank of America's (BAC Quote) stock has actually fallen since the end of July - but the litigation-heavy Southern bank, which is searching for a new CEO, is another story.

Furious trading in Citi shares has also calmed since the summer. The stock's average daily three-month volume still stands at 775 million, but that's a level it's reached only six times since mid-September.