Star bank analyst Richard Bove is bullish on Citigroup, looking for its shares to more than double over the next two years.
Rising demand for credit and payment services, especially overseas, will boost the stock, the Rochdale Securities analyst told CNBC.
Citigroup shares recently stood at $4.23, up about 40 percent from their 52-week low of $2.56.
The country’s third biggest bank is one of the largest, if not the largest, credit card company in the world, Bove notes. And consumer credit is growing sharply in Asia.
Citi also has one of the largest capital markets operations in the world. While that industry is under pressure now, “pent up demand for mergers and acquisitions is huge in the U.S.,” Bove said.
And the bank has one of the biggest payment services businesses in the world, a business that will expand as the world economy expands, Bove says.
"The operating businesses of the company have an unusually positive outlook for the future," he said.
"A couple of years from now, the stock should hit $8.50. The only thing that’s holding down this stock price is the fact that the government’s selling 7.7 billion shares.”
Bove isn’t the only bull on Citi. Standard & Poor’s gives the bank a four-star rating out of a maximum of five.
S&P has a price target of $6 for the stock in the next 12 months and looks for a rise in trading and principal investment revenue.
© 2012 Moneynews. All rights reserved.