Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Has $7.82 Million Stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 729.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 111,040 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,659 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for about 2.8% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Citigroup by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,544,000 after purchasing an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,120 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,703,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,021,000 after purchasing an additional 240,628 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $81.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.91.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.