Citi price target raised to $78 from $77 at BofA

BofA analyst Ebrahim Poonawala raised the firm’s price target on Citi to $78 from $77 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Despite reporting Q3 EPS of $1.48 that beat BofA and consensus estimate by 16% and 13%, respectively, the shares declined and the selloff accelerated during the call when management “initially failed to give a convincing answer” with regards to the risk of Citigroup being subject to a regulator-imposed asset-cap, the analyst tells investors. While CEO Jane Fraser sought to clarify this with “we do not have an asset cap” later on the call, the firm believes the negative narrative was enough to drive some profit-taking as the stock was trading within 2% of year-to-date highs coming into the print, the analyst added in an earnings recap note.