L & S Advisors Inc Buys Shares of 89,666 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 89,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allianz SE acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $9,909,000. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,022,000. Intrust Bank NA grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 14,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 9,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,968,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of C opened at $70.28 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $77.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.72. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.51 and a twelve month high of $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 229,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. The trade was a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

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.