Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,569 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Alternative Capital lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

C stock opened at $67.94 on Thursday. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. 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’s 50-day moving average is $77.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.86.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 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 business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.