Citigroup shares close higher on Friday, assets of Citi’s commercial banking unit in Brazil to be doubled by 2020

According to a statement by Antonio Rubens, head of Citigroup Inc’s commercial banking division in Brazil, on Monday, the unit’s assets are to be doubled by the year 2020, as lending to mid-sized corporate clientèle registered growth.

Citigroup shares closed higher for the fifth time in the past eleven trading sessions in New York on Friday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since January 15th. The stock went up 2.96% ($1.85) to $64.27, after touching an intraday high at $64.58, or a price level not seen since February 6th ($64.61).

Shares of Citigroup Inc have risen 23.45% so far in 2019 compared with a 10.72% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Citigroup’s stock went down 30.04%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Currently, Citi’s commercial banking division manages assets of nearly 5 billion Brazilian reais (or $1.339 billion*), while the bank’s entire operation in Brazil has about 75 billion reais (or $20.079 billion) in assets.

According to Rubens, in 2018, assets of the commercial unit grew 27% from a year ago, since an economic recovery boosted demand. At the same time, the units deposit base rose 10% to 3 billion reais last year.

Rubens also pointed out that the Wall Street bank was targeting companies with revenue of between 200 million reais and 1.8 billion reais.

*$1 equals 3.7353 Brazilian reais

According to CNN Money, the 26 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Citigroup Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $76.00, with a high estimate of $94.00 and a low estimate of $51.00. The median estimate represents an 18.25% upside compared to the closing price of $64.27 on February 15th.

The same media also reported that 18 out of 29 surveyed investment analysts had rated Citigroup Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Citigroup Inc (C) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $63.42
R1 – $65.43
R2 – $66.58
R3 – $68.59
R4 – $70.59

S1 – $62.27
S2 – $60.26
S3 – $59.11
S4 – $57.95