Another Weak Quarter Seen for Citigroup

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -  Citigroup (C) releases second-quarter earnings Monday. The stock has had an awful year. Let's look at what to expect in the latest quarterly results.

Background:

Citigroup, the leading global financial services company, has some two hundred million customer accounts. It was founded in 1812 and is based in New York. Citi trades an average of 36.2 million shares per day with a market cap of $76.6 billion.

52-week range: $23.11- $42.03, book value: $62.01, float short: 1.89%

Citi is anticipated to report weak second-quarter earnings before Monday's market open. The consensus estimate is currently 89 cents a share, a decline of 20 cents (18.3 percent) from $1.09 during the same period last year.

Analysts as a whole like this company. Currently, Citi has 13 "buy" recommendations out of 20 analysts covering the company, four "holds" and three recommend selling.

Eleven out of 20 analysts now rate Citi a "strong buy," down from 12 analysts a month ago. Compared to three months ago, fewer analysts are rating this company as a "strong buy".

Shareholders have not been rewarded for their patience, shares have fallen 34.4 percent in the last year, and the average analyst target price for Citi is $40.69.

I don't get too excited about analysts tripping over themselves to tell the world they recommend buying one of the largest investment banks in the world. Still, Citi is now trading at such a discount to earnings and relative value of the balance sheet it's hard to make a case to sell if your time horizon is measured in quarters or years and not in months or less.

Weinstein estimate: Citi reports a slight beat with modest guidance, but shares move higher with anything other than downright negative guidance.

The trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio is 6.9, the mean fiscal-year estimate price-to-earnings ratio is 6.78, based on earnings of $3.85 a share this year. Investors are receiving 4 cents in dividends for a yield of .15 percent.

In the last month the stock has fallen -1.4%, but like many banks Citi has fallen over 30% in the last year.

1 2 3 Next › Last »