Let’s follow the template from Omnicom, my previous dividend pick, okay? The dividend yield on Citigroup is 3.48% against the five-year average yield of 1.96%. The current price-to-earnings ratio is 10.03 versus the five-year average of 10.17. The current price to sales ratio is 1.63 versus the five-year average of 2.17. On historical measures this bank stock is undervalued. And it has built up some upward momentum recently, gaining 12.29% in the last three months and 39.31% in the last month. The shares are still down 24.07% for 2020 to date as of the close on December 4. The biggest thing Citigroup has going for it in the current post-vaccine rally, however, is that its recent performance has left so much room for improvement. The bank, after having trouble jumping the Federal Reserve’s capitalization hurdles, looks likely to receive permission to continue share buybacks equal to 10% of shares outstanding for another year. Citigroup also plans on $2.8 billion in cost savings over the next year and forecasts double-digit growth in earnings per share. That should enable Citigroup to close some of the gap with peers JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) on such measures of profitability as return on equity. (6.14% for Citigroup versus 9.98% for JPMorgan Chase and 7.35% for Bank of America.) Citigroup also has more revenue exposure to Latin America and Asia than its peers so the bank ought to get more bang for investors’ bucks from what looks like an increasingly strong recovery in the global economy led by China. As of tomorrow, December 8, I’m adding shares of Citigroup to my Dividend Portfolio.
Adding Citigroup to my Dividend Portfolio as 7th pick in my JubakAM.com Dividend Stocks Special Report
