Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,805 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Citigroup were worth $9,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in C. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter valued at $4,607,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,378,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,115,000 after purchasing an additional 54,782 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the third quarter worth $87,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 22.9% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 16,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 0.9% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 21,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of C stock opened at $81.32 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.32.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

C has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.