GFG Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

GFG Capital LLC cut its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $1,998,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Citigroup by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947,912 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Citigroup by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,531,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,628 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Citigroup by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,115,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,527 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Citigroup by 103.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410,950 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on C shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C opened at $82.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.61. The company has a market cap of $155.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $82.91.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. During the same period 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, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally 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.