Busey Bank Boosts Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Busey Bank lifted its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,779 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,572 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $13,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 2.0% during the third 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after buying an additional 911,694 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Citigroup by 1.5% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after buying an additional 242,545 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 15,676,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,347,000 after buying an additional 1,404,120 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $80.66 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.42. The firm has a market cap of $152.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

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 company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on C. Truist Financial began 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Citigroup 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.