Webster Bank N. A. Boosts Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 150.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in C. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after purchasing an additional 242,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on C shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $81.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.21. The company has a market capitalization of $153.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.24 and a twelve month high of $82.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted 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. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.