Is Citigroup Stock a Buy Now?

• Citigroup is 1 of the largest, best-known banks successful the U.S.

• The banal has risen dramatically during the past year, up 65% compared to a summation of 15% for the mean bank.

• Citigroup is nary longer the worth accidental it was earlier the rally began.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than Citigroup ›

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is performing good arsenic a concern close now. But does that marque this ample and well-known slope a buy? The reply is no; you besides request to see the terms you are paying for the stock. Here's a speedy look astatine wherefore you mightiness privation to bargain Citigroup, and wherefore you mightiness not.

Citigroup's banal has risen 65% during the past year. That compares to a 15% summation successful SPDR S&P Bank ETF, which tracks ample U.S. banks.

As the illustration highlights, Citigroup's outperformance began during the 2025 2nd quarter.

Citigroup reported first-quarter 2025 net past April. In that quarter, the institution reported that net per stock (EPS) accrued to $1.96, up from $1.58 successful the archetypal 4th of 2024. That's a 24% increase, which is important by immoderate measure. Helping things on was a 300-basis constituent betterment successful the company's instrumentality connected mean tangible communal equity, a cardinal measurement of a bank's performance.

Given the year-over-year improvement, it isn't astonishing that investors were optimistic astir Citigroup's stock. It followed that 4th with 29% EPS stock maturation successful the 2nd 4th and 23% maturation successful the 3rd quarter.

Again, it isn't shocking that the rally successful Citigroup's stock terms continued done to the extremity of the year, fixed the beardown results astatine the bottommost of the income statement.

In hindsight, it would person been a large concern determination to bargain Citigroup astatine the commencement of 2025. But what astir astatine the commencement of 2026, aft the banal has outperformed the mean slope by specified a wide margin? The reply is really little wide than you mightiness think, peculiarly if you person a maturation astatine a tenable terms (GARP) focus.

Citigroup isn't astir arsenic inexpensive arsenic it has been from a valuation perspective. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is presently 17, compared to a five-year mean of astir 9. The price-to-book (P/B) worth ratio is astir 1.1 times the five-year mean of astir 0.6. If you comparison the banal to its ain history, it looks expensive.

However, a examination to the mean bank, utilizing the SPDR S&P Bank ETF arsenic an manufacture proxy, changes the equation slightly. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF's mean P/E ratio is astir 12.5 and the mean P/B ratio is 1.3. While Citigroup's P/E ratio is supra the average, its P/B ratio is beneath the manufacture average. Meanwhile, the mean dividend output for a slope is astir 2.5% compared to Citigroup's output of 2%.