Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Stake Boosted by Skylands Capital LLC

Skylands Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 136,775 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,150 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises approximately 1.3% of Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $9,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 period. Swedbank AB lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 70.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 103.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,950 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on C shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE C opened at $79.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.65. The company has a market capitalization of $150.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.51 and a 1-year high of $84.74.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.