Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Citigroup (C): Should You Buy?

Group 1: Brokerage Recommendations - Citigroup has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.67, indicating a consensus between Strong Buy and Buy based on 21 brokerage firms' recommendations [2] - Of the 21 recommendations, 13 are Strong Buy and 2 are Buy, accounting for 61.9% and 9.5% of all recommendations respectively [2] - Despite the positive ABR, reliance solely on brokerage recommendations may not be wise, as studies show limited success in guiding investors to stocks with the best price increase potential [4][5] Group 2: Analyst Bias and Zacks Rank - Brokerage analysts often exhibit a strong positive bias due to vested interests, leading to a disproportionate number of Strong Buy recommendations compared to Strong Sell [5][9] - The Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock rating tool, categorizes stocks based on earnings estimate revisions and is considered a more effective indicator of near-term stock price performance [7][10] - The Zacks Rank is timely and reflects current earnings estimates, unlike the ABR, which may not be up-to-date [11] Group 3: Earnings Estimates for Citigroup - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Citigroup's current year earnings has increased by 3.9% over the past month to $7.49, indicating growing optimism among analysts [12] - The recent change in consensus estimates, along with other factors, has resulted in a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) for Citigroup, suggesting a positive outlook for the stock [13]