Longbow Finance SA Buys Shares of 128,728 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Longbow Finance SA bought a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 128,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,061,000. Citigroup accounts for approximately 1.0% of Longbow Finance SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Citigroup by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 184,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,989,000 after buying an additional 31,883 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $437,000. Prasad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $1,095,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Citigroup by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 182,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,836,000 after buying an additional 27,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

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 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. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $2,433,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. This represents a 11.57 % 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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE C opened at $78.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

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

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

C has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Company 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.