Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Invests $937,000 in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citigroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,492,238,000 after acquiring an additional 791,758 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 5.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,999,000 after buying an additional 913,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 1.5% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after buying an additional 242,545 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE C opened at $81.68 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $154.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.24 and a 12-month high of $82.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.88.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on C. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.