We recently compiled a list of the 8 Good Stocks To Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) stands against the other good stocks to buy right now.
Stocks to Perform Well in 2025
On October 14, Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner and head of research, appeared in an interview on CNBC to discuss the latest market trends and share his expectations.
In a previous interview, Lee hinted that a period of market volatility is expected, as 2024 heads for a soft landing. However, in this interview, Lee revealed that he had underestimated the market and that it had been extremely resilient and confident, contrary to what he believed earlier. He adds that this indicates the decreasing importance of macroeconomic data to investors.
Lee also adds that for the past two years, investors have been expecting a recession and have held back. Henceforth, with all this cash on the sidelines, investors have been more than willing to invest. October so far has been a great month for the market, despite CPI data being higher than expectations.
Lee emphasizes the need for the Fed to be more supportive as concerns over the job market rise and the upcoming election draws closer. He suggests that despite the election results he expects stocks to perform well in 2025.
The Fed Should Go Slower, Strategist Says
The market rose to an all-time intraday earlier today and the Fed governor stressed the need for caution amid decreasing interest rates. On October 15, Warren Pies, from 3Fourteen, appeared in an interview on CNBC to discuss his market thesis for the rest of the year.
Pies suggests that rates are the biggest risk to the market at the moment, especially if drastic measures are introduced. He further adds that if the Fed decides to bring the rate down to 3% immediately, the long-term market outlook could be extremely volatile.
He explained that the concern is more about the rate of change and not the absolute level the Fed is trying to achieve. Pies adds that the market still has a lot of room to run before another drastic cut is implemented. He emphasized that the Fed must operate at a pace the market can digest. He also suggested that the market has started to reaccelerate, hinting that a soft landing is more likely.
Now that we have studied the market outlook up until the end of 2024, let’s take a look at some of the good stocks to buy right now.
Our methodology
We used a consensus-based approach and sifted through financial media reports to first compile a list of good stocks to buy right now. We then shortlisted and ranked these stocks by using Insider Monkey’s hedge fund data for the second quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of financial advisors huddled around a desk, discussing the best investment strategy for their client.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 85
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is an investment banking giant that provides asset management services, risk management services, investment management services, mortgage loans, credit cards, and other banking commodities.
In the second quarter of 2024, the company logged $20.1 billion in revenue and $3.2 billion in net income, up from $19.4 billion in revenue and $2.9 billion in net income from Q2 2023. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is present in 90 countries, issues currencies in 144 countries, and has trading floors in 77 countries.
The company is now offering commercial banking services in other countries and is leveraging technology to deliver next-gen transaction banking services to its clients. On October 10, the company partnered with Mastercard to enable cross-border payments in 14 receiving markets from across the globe.
On April 24, Mike Mayo, Wells Fargo senior bank analyst, joined CNBC where he discussed his stance on Citigroup. Mayo revealed C as his dominant number-one pick and expects it to double its earnings in the next three years.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is one of the most important names in the banking sector because of its expansive network and strong ecosystem. The company continues to grow due to its extravagant expansion strategy, as many analysts concur.
Patient Capital Management stated the following regarding Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) gained 24.1% in the quarter continuing its uptrend from 4Q. The company is on a multi-year journey to reorganize the business and reach return on tangible common equity of 11-12% by 2026 (and higher further out). Citigroup is finally taking the hard actions necessary, cutting unprofitable departments, taking out middle management layers, and reducing overall headcount. As of early March, the company was 70% done with its business exits and had reduced management layers by 1/4th. We have high confidence Citi will hit its targets. In the meantime, the company is returning cash to shareholders, which could meaningfully increase if the Basel III capital proposal is changed.”
Overall C ranks 7th among the 10 good stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of C as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than C but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.