Billionaire Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said Monday he's bullish on Citigroup shares, arguing that they are "still below book value."
Shares of Citigroup have risen nearly 50 percent over the past 12 months as the banking sector continues to pick itself back up after the financial recession. They closed Friday at $73.53.
"I'm really happy with Citibank right now. Even with the big jump right now, they're still below book value," Alwaleed told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "There's still plenty of room for Citigroup to go above 100 right now."
Alwaleed noted that since President Donald Trump's election, the financial sector has been recovering steadily, especially on hopes of tax reform and deregulation. Citi has been a long-time investment of Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding.
"The environment right now for the banking industry is very favorable," he continued. "Less regulation also is helping the banks also. So less regulations, more control by the banks, [who] learned the lessons of the last decade."
Trump and Republican politicians have advocated the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act, a major piece of banking regulations adopted in the wake of the Great Recession, and the loosening of some capital and liquidity requirements in a bid to ease banks' ability to lend.
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