NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup Inc.a ais no longer a "bad actor" as the SEC quietly granted the bank waivers on restrictions that crimped a range of its activities, including selling investments in hedge funds to individuals, following a recent securities-fraud settlement, the Wall Street Journal reports. The SEC, which in August completed a $285 million settlement with Citigroup over allegations related to complex debt instruments, granted the waivers late Friday, according to notices on its website, the Journal said. The relief allows Citigroup to resume selling investments in hedge funds and private-equity funds to wealthy clients. The bank also retains its special status as a "well-known seasoned issuer," or WKSI, which allows large companies to quickly issue stocks or bonds without the speed bump of an SEC review of their offerings, according to the Journal. Must Read: Warren Buffett's 25 Favorite Stocks STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. a Shares of Citigroup are down 0.52% to $51.55 in early morning trade. a TheStreet Ratings team rates CITIGROUP INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate CITIGROUP INC (C) a BUY. This is driven by multiple strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: 40.66% is the gross profit margin for CITIGROUP INC which we consider to be strong. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, C's net profit margin of 0.78% significantly trails the industry average. Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 12.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 6.8%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share. Compared to where it was 12 months ago, the stock is up, but it has so far lagged the appreciation in the S&P 500. Looking ahead, the stock's rise over the last year has already helped drive it to a level which is relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that the other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels. CITIGROUP INC has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, CITIGROUP INC increased its bottom line by earning $4.25 versus $2.46 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 16.5% in earnings ($3.55 versus $4.25). Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $2,012.00 million or 89.95% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite a decrease in cash flow of 89.95%, CITIGROUP INC is in line with the industry average cash flow growth rate of -97.63%. You can view the full analysis from the report here: C Ratings Report STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.
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