Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank by assets, is frequently compared with Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. because of the breadth of its business. Regional banks may now be a better benchmark.

Five brokerage analysts have ``sell'' recommendations or an equivalent on Citigroup's shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s William F. Tanona joined the group yesterday by cutting his rating on the New York-based company to ``sell'' from ``neutral.''

There isn't a single analyst that has the same opinion of Bank of America, the country's second-largest bank, or JPMorgan Chase, the third-biggest, the data shows.

``Buy'' and ``hold'' ratings on Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, are tied at 12 apiece. New York-based JPMorgan has 18 buys and only four sells, making it the highest- rated stock among two dozen companies in the KBW Bank Index.

Citigroup, which provides commercial and investment banking services and operates in more than 100 countries from Algeria to Zambia, has the same number of sell recommendations as index members with much smaller footprints.

Regions Financial Corp., a Birmingham, Alabama-based bank with coverage in 16 U.S. states, also has five sell ratings. So does Comerica Inc., based in Dallas, whose main locations are in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, as well as Texas.

Citigroup is one sell recommendation away from tying Fifth Third Bancorp, KeyCorp and National City Corp., three regionals with the most negative calls among the index's components.

`Increasingly Challenging'

The stock's precarious position is in keeping with its performance this year. Citigroup has tumbled 43 percent, more than any company in KBW's gauge except Washington Mutual Inc. and National City. Yesterday's closing price, $32, was the lowest since March 2003.

The close was near the $33 price estimate that Goldman's Tanona put on the stock for the next 12 months. Citigroup faces ``an increasingly challenging operating environment,'' he wrote in a report yesterday.

Tanona joined CIBC World Markets' Meredith Whitney, Deutsche Bank AG's Michael Mayo and Morgan Stanley's Betsy Graseck in shunning the stock. Pierre Drach, an analyst at Frankfurt-based Independent Research Gmbh, is also negative.

Yet Citigroup, unlike those regional banks, still has more fans than foes among analysts. Eight brokerage firms are telling clients to buy the stock, including Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., which reiterated an ``outperform'' rating last week.

`De-Risking' Possible

The prospect of ``de-risking'' makes Citigroup's shares worth buying, according to Bernstein's Howard Mason, an analyst based in New York. Returns on equity, a gauge of profitability, may be 25 percent to 27 percent annually even after the firm takes steps to reduce risk, he wrote in a report.

KeyCorp and Regions Financial have no buy ratings whatsoever. Comerica, Fifth Third and National City have one each. While Citigroup hasn't fallen as far as the regional banks in analysts' eyes, the five sell ratings all came out within the past six weeks. So the stock's heading their way.

* * *

SABMiller Plc, the world's third-largest brewer, is justified in paying a relatively high price for Grolsch NV. The deal will not only help the company expand in emerging markets but also hurt Anheuser-Busch Cos. in the U.S., the world's largest beer market.

There's no doubt that the 816 million-euro ($1.2 billion) deal is costly. SABMiller's offer of 48.25 euros a share values the Enschede, Netherlands-based company at almost 43 times earnings and 2.6 times sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only Tsingtao Brewery Co., China's second-largest beer maker, trades at higher ratios among the world's biggest brewers.

Acquiring Grolsch may help London-based SABMiller grow in Latin America and South Africa, which accounted for a combined 55 percent of sales for the fiscal year ended in March.

At the same time, the company will gain leverage over Anheuser-Busch, based in St. Louis. Anheuser-Busch imports and sells Grolsch's beers in the U.S. under a distribution agreement that took effect in April 2006.

* * *

Here's a good reason why Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other U.S. retailers have started holiday sales earlier this year: Gasoline prices are breaking their pattern of falling, or at least not rising much, in the fourth quarter.

The average retail price of unleaded regular gasoline nationwide has climbed 11 percent this quarter, according to AAA, once known as the American Automobile Association. When this week began, the average was $3.095 a gallon.

Similar data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows the average fourth-quarter price dropped in 13 of the past 17 years. The biggest increase for the period was 3.1 percent, recorded in last three months of 1990. This year's figure will be higher as long as the year-end average is at least $2.899 a gallon.

Combine this with rising heating-oil costs, and it's clear why chains are pulling out the stops to draw shoppers. A survey published by the Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association yesterday found that energy prices will cause 38 percent of respondents to cut holiday spending.

(David Wilson is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: David Wilson in New York at dwilson@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 20, 2007 00:13 EST