Blume Capital Management Inc. Acquires 15,620 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,452 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,620 shares during the quarter. Citigroup comprises about 1.9% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,751,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,819 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,051,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,710,000 after acquiring an additional 232,652 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Citigroup by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 16,627,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,886,000 after acquiring an additional 486,952 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,113,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $828,868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,948,512 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citigroup by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,146,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $727,710,000 after purchasing an additional 395,571 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $63.12. The company had a trading volume of 3,059,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,386,922. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.49. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.17 and a 52-week high of $63.90.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.29. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $21.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 62.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on C shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. HSBC raised their price objective on Citigroup from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Citigroup from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.85.

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.