Sage Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 3,666 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in C. Core Alternative Capital grew its stake in Citigroup by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in Citigroup by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $79.78 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The company has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on C shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Profile

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.