Citigroup shares close little changed on Monday, bank’s retail clients to be refunded for complex investment losses, ASIC says

According to a statement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Monday, over AUD $3 million will be refunded to retail clients by Citigroup Inc (C), as they incurred losses from complex investments offered by the Wall Street bank with no adequate financial advice.

Citigroup shares closed lower for the third time in the past thirteen trading sessions in New York on Monday. The stock inched down 0.06% ($0.04) to $67.38, after touching an intraday low at $66.27, or a price level not seen since April 11th ($65.31).

Shares of Citigroup Inc have risen 29.43% so far in 2019 compared with a 15.91% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Citigroup’s stock went down 30.04%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Following a probe by the ASIC, Citigroup is to provide a refund to 114 clients, who invested money in complex fixed coupon as well as other capital at risk products during the period 2013-2017 and suffered losses.

The ASIC also said that clients with remaining investments in the products would be given an opportunity to exit ”without cost”.

“While Citi maintains the view that none of its actions amounted to a breach of its obligations, Citi has acknowledged ASIC’s concerns and is making a payment to this (small) group of clients,” a spokesperson for Citigroup said in an emailed statement, cited by Reuters.

Nearly 75% of the refunds have already been completed, the banks representative also said.

After the regulator’s probe, on January 1st 2018 Citigroup discontinued selling structured products to retail customers without appropriate personal financial advice.

According to CNN Money, the 25 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Citigroup Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $76.00, with a high estimate of $104.00 and a low estimate of $51.00. The median estimate represents a 12.79% upside compared to the closing price of $67.38 on April 15th.

The same media also reported that 18 out of 28 surveyed investment analysts had rated Citigroup Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 5 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Citigroup Inc (C) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $66.80
R1 – $68.93
R2 – $70.43
R3 – $72.56
R4 – $74.68

S1 – $65.30
S2 – $63.17
S3 – $61.67
S4 – $60.16