Citigroup (NYSE:C) is a bank that’s making a lot of changes right now. After we found out, about a week ago, that Citigroup was a welcome haven for money laundering, Citigroup made a lot of changes. And those changes came together to send Citigroup shares up modestly in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Citigroup announced that it was pulling out of Haiti altogether, though it would still have some presence therein. Current clients would still have access to international banking, as well as correspondent banking. But with Citigroup set to surrender its banking license to the Haitian government, most of the operation would likely be gone.
Citigroup didn’t cite the various disturbances in Haiti of late, including that brief interval back around March when, arguably, the most powerful political figure in the country was a gang leader nicknamed “Barbecue.” Instead, Citigroup cited “diminished international activity” as well as “lower institutional client demand in Haiti.”
Further Changes Abroad
Pulling out of Haiti was one thing, but there’s actually more still to consider. For instance, Citigroup is also pulling back in Singapore. It cut its workforce by around 500 people as part of a “global restructuring” effort. With around 8,000 people in Singapore, the cuts are comparatively modest but still represent over 6% of its workforce.
Meanwhile, the Indian government cried foul over a Citigroup research report, which suggested that even assuming growth rates that verge on the preposterous at 7% annually, India will still have a problem creating enough jobs for the population. India bit back, noting that the Citigroup report had a range of flaws, particularly some missing data about positive trends and official source news.
Is Citigroup a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on C stock based on 10 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 47.78% rally in its share price over the past year, the average C price target of $69.41 per share implies 7.28% upside potential.
