Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 90.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,407 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,922 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $7,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in C. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Citigroup by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after buying an additional 27,856 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 34.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 12,280 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,138,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,270,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C opened at $84.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.44. Citigroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.51 and a 52 week high of $84.67.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on C shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial started coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

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.