Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 667,254 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,442 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $46,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $1,935,599,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Citigroup by 455.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,206,908,000 after purchasing an additional 25,705,141 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $198,231,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $75.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.79 and a 200 day moving average of $71.72. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $21.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.34 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 35.39%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $83.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total transaction of $301,504.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,048 shares in the company, valued at $890,656.48. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Citigroup

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.