First American Trust FSB Increases Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

First American Trust FSB raised its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 214,880 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for approximately 1.5% of First American Trust FSB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $15,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Core Alternative Capital boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C stock opened at $74.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.42. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.51 and a 12-month high of $84.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

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 firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid 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 3.02%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.