Kempner Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Kempner Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 73,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,182 shares during the period. Citigroup makes up about 2.8% of Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $5,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of C. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 70.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410,950 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on C. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $81.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $154.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.24 and a 52 week high of $82.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average of $66.53.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 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 net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company 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 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.